Taekwondo, also spelled tae kwon do or taekwon-do, is a Korean martial art involving punching and kicking techniques. The literal translation for taekwondo is "kicking", "punching", and "the art or way of". It sometimes involves the use of weapons.
Sport in the United Kingdom plays an important role in British culture and the United Kingdom has played a significant role in the organisation and spread of sporting culture globally. In the infancy of many organised sports, the Home Nations, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland were heavily involved in setting out the formal rules of many sports, and formed among the earliest separate governing bodies, national teams and domestic league competitions. After 1922, some sports formed separate bodies for Northern Ireland, though many continued to be organised on an all-Ireland basis. For this reason, in many though not all sports, most domestic and international sport is carried on a Home Nations basis, and England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are recognised as national entities.
Taekwondo made its first appearance at the Olympics as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The opening ceremony featured a mass demonstration of taekwondo, with hundreds of adults and children performing moves in unison. Taekwondo was again a demonstration sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Taekwondo became a full medal sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and has been a sport in the Olympic games since then.
Association football is the most popular sport in almost all Asian countries. Cricket is the second most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include baseball, basketball, badminton and table tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as the South Asian sports kabaddi and kho-kho, and sepak takraw in Southeast Asia. Top sporting nations/regions in Asia include China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Evgeniya Olegovna Kanaeva OMF is a Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the only individual rhythmic gymnast in history to win two Olympic all-around gold medals, winning at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she finished with 3.75 points ahead of silver medalist Inna Zhukova, and at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she also became the oldest gymnast to win the Olympic gold. On 4 July 2013, Kanaeva received the International Fair Play Award for Movie called "Sport and Life".
The European Taekwondo Championships are the European senior championships in Taekwondo, first held in Barcelona in 1976. The event is held every two years and is organized by the European Taekwondo Union, the continental affiliate of World Taekwondo, which organises and controls Olympic style taekwondo. An additional event, the G4 Extra European Taekwondo Championships were exceptionally held in 2019.
Ismaël Coulibaly is a Malian taekwondo practitioner who mainly fights in the lightweight division. Coulibaly represented Mali at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he competed in the men's 80kg competition. He was Mali's flag bearer for the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympics. He has also competed in three World Taekwondo Championships, a World Taekwondo Grand Prix and two African Games. He has won multiple World Championship medals and multiple medals in African regional competitions.
Serbia competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's fourth appearance at the Summer Olympics as an independent country. The Olympic Committee of Serbia confirmed a roster of 103 athletes, 58 men and 45 women, to compete across 14 sports at the Games.
Turkey competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's debut in 1908, Turkish athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, except for three occasions. Turkey failed to register any athletes at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, did not attend the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles at the period of worldwide Great Depression, and also joined the United States-led boycott, when Moscow hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics. The Turkish team consisted of 103 athletes, 55 men and 48 women, across twenty-one sports.
Egypt competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's debut in 1912, Egyptian athletes had appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games except 1932 and 1980, joining the United States-led boycott in the latter.
Iran competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's debut in 1948, Iranian athletes had attended in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, with the exception of the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics.
Azerbaijan competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era.
İrem Yaman is a twice world champion Turkish taekwondo athlete competed in the lightweight division, and an amateur kickboxer. In 2021, she retired from the taekwondo.
The FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. Initially the tournament was played in the year following the Olympic Games, except for 1973 when no tournament was held, but since 1991 the World Cup has been awarded in the year preceding the Olympic Games.
Lauren Williams is a Welsh taekwondo athlete who represents Great Britain.
Hakan Reçber is a Turkish taekwondo athlete. He won the gold medal in the men's bantamweight event at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan. He is an Olympic bronze medalist in the Men's 68 kg competition. He won the gold medal at the 2021 European Taekwondo Championships and 2022 European Taekwondo Championships on the bantamweight (−63 kg) category.
Iran competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place during the summer of 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the nation's debut in 1948, Iranian athletes have attended every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1980 and 1984 which they boycotted.
Ela Aydin is a German taekwondo athlete. Her greatest achievements are a bronze medal at the 2022 Grand Prix in Paris and two bronze medals at European Championships.
Feruza Sadikova is an Uzbekistani taekwondo practitioner. In 2019, she won a bronze medal at the World Military Games, and in 2021, she won the Asian Taekwondo Championship. She has also won bronze medals twice at the World Championship, is a winner of the Islamic Solidarity Games, and a silver medalist at the Summer Asian Games.
Lorena Brandl is a German taekwondo athlete. She is the 2022 world bronze medallist in the +73 kg weight category.
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