Taekwondo at the Summer Olympics

Taekwondo at the Summer Olympics
Taekwondo at the Summer Olympics
IOC Discipline Code	TKW
Governing body	WTF
Events	8 (men: 4; women: 4)
Games
	1896; 1900; 1904; 1908; 1912; 1920; 1924; 1928; 1932; 1936; 1948; 1952; 1956; 1960; 1964; 1968; 1972; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1988 ; 1992 ; 1996; 2000 ; 2004 ; 2008 ; 2012 ; 2016 ; 2020 ; 2024 ; Note: demonstration or exhibition sport years indicated in italics
	Medalists ;

Last updated July 28, 2023

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.^[1] 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.

Summary

Games	Year	Events	Best Nation
24	1988	16	South Korea
25	1992	16	South Korea
26
27	2000	8	South Korea
28	2004	8	Chinese Taipei
29	2008	8	South Korea
30	2012	8	Spain
31	2016	8	South Korea
32	2020	8	ROC

Background

The quest to bring taekwondo to the Olympics began in 1974 when taekwondo was admitted into the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).^[3] One of the AAU's primary roles is to establish standards for various sports nationwide. The World Taekwondo Federation's technical standards were adopted by the AAU Taekwondo group.

In 1975, taekwondo became an affiliate of the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF).^[3] The GAISF promotes cooperation among various international sports federations and works closely with the Olympics movement. Five years later, in 1980, the WTF was granted recognition by the IOC.^[3] The following year, taekwondo was one of the primary events in the World Games,^[3] an international competition specifically for non-Olympic events. In 1982, taekwondo was designated an official demonstration sport for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, and for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.^[3]

In 1986 and 1987, taekwondo was included in the following international sporting events: World Cup (1986), Asian Games (1986), All-Africa Games (1986), and the Pan American Games (1987).^[3] In 1994, the IOC adopted taekwondo as an official Olympic sport for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.^[3]

Olympic competition format

For Olympic competition, there will be a single elimination tournament for each of the weight categories. The winner of the tournament final will receive the gold medal, and the loser will receive the silver medal while a Repechage competition will occur for the bronze medal contest.

Repechage: Single elimination in the morning session runs until the finalists have been decided. At this point, anyone who has lost to a finalist in the single elimination competition enters the repechage, the reasoning being that any one of these fighters might have been the 'third best' fighter, had they not come up against one of the top 2. "In the repechage, the losers of the semifinals during the elimination phase will be seeded directly to each of repechage finals, but on the opposite side of the bracket. Other losers will advance to the repechage unseeded, at the same side of the bracket in which they contested during the elimination phase." The athletes who lost to the two finalists in the round of 16 each face the athlete that lost to the same finalist in the quarterfinals; the winners of those contests face the athlete that lost to the same finalist in the semifinals. The two finalists of the repechage each receive a bronze medal.^[4]

Up until the 2012 Summer Olympics, a National Olympic Committee could only send a maximum of two men and two women competitors, without regard whether it is the host nation.^[5] This restriction has been lifted for the 2016 Summer Olympics, so each National Olympic Committee may now qualify one athlete per weight category.^[6]^[7]

Events

Medals are awarded in four different weight classes for both men and women.

Event	Men	Women
Flyweight	−58 kg	−49 kg
Featherweight	−68 kg	−57 kg
Middleweight	−80 kg	−67 kg
Heavyweight	+80 kg	+67 kg

Medal table

Updated until 2020 Olympics ^[8]


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	South Korea (KOR)	12	3	7	22
2	China (CHN)	7	1	3	11
3	United States (USA)	3	2	5	10
4	Great Britain (GBR)	2	3	4	9
5	Mexico (MEX)	2	2	3	7
6	Chinese Taipei (TPE)	2	1	6	9
7	Iran (IRI)	2	1	3	6
8	Italy (ITA)	2	1	1	4
	ROC	2	1	1	4
	Serbia (SRB)	2	1	1	4
11	Spain (ESP)	1	5	1	7
12	Turkey (TUR)	1	3	5	9
13	Greece (GRE)	1	3	0	4
14	Cuba (CUB)	1	2	3	6
14	Thailand (THA)	1	2	3	6
16	Australia (AUS)	1	1	0	2
16	Jordan (JOR)	1	1	0	2
18	Croatia (CRO)	1	0	4	5
19	Azerbaijan (AZE)	1	0	2	3
19	Ivory Coast (CIV)	1	0	2	3
21	Argentina (ARG)	1	0	0	1
21	Uzbekistan (UZB)	1	0	0	1
23	France (FRA)	0	3	5	8
24	Russia (RUS)	0	2	2	4
25	Norway (NOR)	0	2	0	2
26	Canada (CAN)	0	1	1	2
	Dominican Republic (DOM)	0	1	1	2
	Germany (GER)	0	1	1	2
	Tunisia (TUN)	0	1	1	2
30	Gabon (GAB)	0	1	0	1
	Niger (NIG)	0	1	0	1
	North Macedonia (MKD)	0	1	0	1
	Vietnam (VIE)	0	1	0	1
34	Egypt (EGY)	0	0	4	4
35	Afghanistan (AFG)	0	0	2	2
	Brazil (BRA)	0	0	2	2
	Venezuela (VEN)	0	0	2	2
38	Colombia (COL)	0	0	1	1
	Israel (ISR)	0	0	1	1
	Japan (JPN)	0	0	1	1
	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	0	0	1	1
	Nigeria (NGR)	0	0	1	1
Totals (42 entries)		48	48	80	176

Number of athletes by nation

Nation	96	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	Years
Afghanistan (AFG)																										2	2			4
Algeria (ALG)																											1			3
Argentina (ARG)																								2	2	1	2			4
Armenia (ARM)																											1			1
Aruba (ARU)																												1		1
Australia (AUS)																								8	4	4	2	4		5
Austria (AUT)																								1	2					2
Azerbaijan (AZE)																									2	1	2	4		4
Belarus (BLR)																												1		1
Belgium (BEL)																									1			3		2
Belize (BIZ)																										1				1
Benin (BEN)																								1		1				2
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH)																									1				1	2
Brazil (BRA)																								1	3	3	2	4		5
Cambodia (CAM)																											1	1		2
Canada (CAN)																								1	2	3	3	1		5
Cape Verde (CPV)																												1		1
Central African Republic (CAF)																									1		2	1		3
Chile (CHI)																								1			1	1		3
China (CHN)																								3	2	4	3	4		5
Chinese Taipei (TPE)																								4	4	4	3	3		5
Colombia (COL)																								1	3	2	1	2		5
Costa Rica (CRC)																									1	1	1			3
Croatia (CRO)																								1	2	2	2	3		5
Cuba (CUB)																								4	2	3	3	1		5
Democratic Republic of the Congo (COD)																												1		1
Denmark (DEN)																								2	2					2
Dominican Republic (DOM)																									1	1	1	3		4
Ecuador (ECU)																										1				1
Egypt (EGY)																								3	4	1	4	3		5
Finland (FIN)																								2	1		1	1		4
France (FRA)																								2	4	2	2	4		5
Gabon (GAB)																										1	1	1		3
Germany (GER)																								3		4	2	3		4
Great Britain (GBR)																								2	4	3	4	4		5
Greece (GRE)																								3	4	3	1			4
Grenada (GRN)																											1			1
Guatemala (GUA)																								1	3		1			3
Guinea (GUI)																										1				1
Haiti (HAI)																									1			1		2
Honduras (HON)																										1		1		2
Hungary (HUN)																								1						1
Indonesia (INA)																								1	2					2
Iran (IRI)																								2	2	3	3	4		5
Iraq (IRQ)																									1					1
Israel (ISR)																									1	1		1		3
Italy (ITA)																								3	3	3	2			4
Ivory Coast (CIV)																								1	1	2	1	3		5
Jamaica (JAM)																											1			1
Japan (JPN)																								2	1	1	2	1		5
Jordan (JOR)																								1	2	1	3	1		5
Kazakhstan (KAZ)																									1	2	3	3		4
Kenya (KEN)																										2				1
Kuwait (KUW)																								1						1
Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)																										1	1			2
Lebanon (LIB)																											1			1
Lesotho (LES)																								2	1					2
Libya (LBA)																								1	1	1		1		4
Malaysia (MAS)																								1	1	2				3
Mali (MLI)																										1	1	1		3
Marshall Islands (MHL)																										1				1
Mexico (MEX)																								3	3	3	4	4		5
Moldova (MDA)																												1		1
Monaco (MON)																								1						1
Mongolia (MGL)																												1		1
Morocco (MAR)																								3	3	3	3	3		5
Nepal (NEP)																									1	1		1		3
Netherlands (NED)																								2	2	1	1	1		5
New Zealand (NZL)																									1	3	3	1		4
Nicaragua (NCA)																								1						1
Niger (NIG)																										1		1		2
Nigeria (NGR)																									3	2	2			3
Norway (NOR)																								1	1	1		1		4
Panama (PAN)																											1	1		2
Papua New Guinea (PNG)																										1	1	1		3
Peru (PER)																										1	1	1		3
Philippines (PHI)																								4	3	2		1		4
Poland (POL)																									1		1	2		3
Portugal (POR)																										1		1		2
Puerto Rico (PUR)																									1	2		1		3
Qatar (QAT)																										1				1
Russia (RUS)																								2	2		4	3		4
Samoa (SAM)																											2			1
Saudi Arabia (KSA)																								1						1
Senegal (SEN)																										1	1	1		3
Serbia (SRB)																											3	2		2
Slovenia (SLO)																								1			3			2
South Africa (RSA)																								1	1					2
South Korea (KOR)																								4	4	4	4	5		5
Spain (ESP)																								4	4	4	3	3		5
Swaziland (SWZ)																								1						1
Sweden (SWE)																								2		2	2	2		4
Switzerland (SUI)																										1				1
Tajikistan (TJK)																											2			1
Thailand (THA)																									4	3	3	3		4
Tonga (TGA)																												1		1
Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)																								1	1					2
Tunisia (TUN)																									3	1	1	3		4
Turkey (TUR)																								2	1	4	3	2		5
Ukraine (UKR)																									1		2			2
United Arab Emirates (UAE)																										1				1
United States (USA)																								4	2	4	4	4		5
Uzbekistan (UZB)																									2	3	3	3		4
Venezuela (VEN)																								1	4	4		1		4
Vietnam (VIE)																								2	2	3	2			4
Yemen (YEM)																									1		1			2
Nations	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	51	60	64	63	63
Athletes	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	103	124	128	128	128
Year	96	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20

Related Research Articles

The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 days. The World Games are governed by the International World Games Association, under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee.

World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is an international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

Repechage is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild card system.

Judo was first included in the Summer Olympic Games at the 1964 Games in Tokyo, Japan. After not being included in 1968, judo has been an Olympic sport in each Olympiad since then. Only male judoka participated until the 1988 Summer Olympics, when women participated as a demonstration sport. Women judoka were first awarded medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

The men's 80 kg competition in taekwondo at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place on August 22 at the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium.

The men's 58 kg competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 8 August, at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taekwondo at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 68 kg</span> Taekwondo competition

The men's 68 kg competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 9 August, at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

The men's 80 kg competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 10 August, at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

The men's +80 kg competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 11 August, at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

The women's 49 kg competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 8 August, at the ExCeL London.

The women's +67 kg competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 11 August, at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

The women's 67 kg competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 10 August, at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

The women's 57 kg competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 9 August, at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

The men's 68 kg competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held on 18 August, at the Carioca Arena 3.

The men's 80 kg Taekwondo competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held on 19 August, at the Carioca Arena 3. This event featured five-time Olympian and three-time Olympic medalist Steven López, representing the United States. López has competed in every Olympic game since 2000.

The men's +80 kg competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held on 20 August, at the Carioca Arena 3.

The women's 49 kg competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held on 17 August, at the Carioca Arena 3. Chinese defending champion Wu Jingyu lost to the silver medalist Tijana Bogdanović in the quarterfinal, unable to win her third Olympic gold. Instead, South Korea's Kim So-hui finished first, beating Panipak Wongpattanakit from Thailand in the process. Wongpattanakit eventually grabbed a bronze medal in the repechage.

The women's 67 kg competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held on 19 August, at the Carioca Arena 3.

The women's +67 kg competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held on 20 August, at the Carioca Arena 3.

References

↑ Rowbottom, Mike (1 January 1996). "1996: The shape of things to come". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2014-03-20. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
↑ "Taekwondo confirmed for LA 2028". World Taekwondo. World Taekwondo. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hartman (2000). "History of Taekwondo: Road to the Olympics". TKD Tutor. Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-25. (Link has expired, as at 28 February 2010.)
↑ "www.i-olympic.com". Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
↑ "WORLD TAEKWONDO FEDERATION - STANDING PROCEDURES FOR TAEKWONDO COMPETITION AT OLYMPIC GAMES - IN FORCE AS OF OCTOBER7, 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
↑ "WORLD TAEKWONDO FEDERATION - STANDING PROCEDURES FOR TAEKWONDO COMPETITION AT OLYMPIC GAMES - IN FORCE AS OF SEPTEMBER 5, 2013" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
↑ "General Guidelines on Rio 2016 Olympic Games Qualification System" (PDF). www.taekwondobond.nl. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
↑ "Olympic Analytics - Medals by Countries". olympanalyt.com. Retrieved 2022-01-31.

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[1] Rowbottom, Mike (1 January 1996). "1996: The shape of things to come". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2014-03-20. Retrieved 2009-04-25.

[2] "Taekwondo confirmed for LA 2028". World Taekwondo. World Taekwondo. Retrieved 10 February 2022.

[hartman-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hartman (2000). "History of Taekwondo: Road to the Olympics". TKD Tutor. Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-25. (Link has expired, as at 28 February 2010.)

[4] "www.i-olympic.com". Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2017.

[maximum_entries-5] "WORLD TAEKWONDO FEDERATION - STANDING PROCEDURES FOR TAEKWONDO COMPETITION AT OLYMPIC GAMES - IN FORCE AS OF OCTOBER7, 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2010-11-21.

[6] "WORLD TAEKWONDO FEDERATION - STANDING PROCEDURES FOR TAEKWONDO COMPETITION AT OLYMPIC GAMES - IN FORCE AS OF SEPTEMBER 5, 2013" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-26.

[7] "General Guidelines on Rio 2016 Olympic Games Qualification System" (PDF). www.taekwondobond.nl. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2022.

[8] "Olympic Analytics - Medals by Countries". olympanalyt.com. Retrieved 2022-01-31.

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v t e Sports at the Olympic Games
Summer sports	Aquatics Artistic swimming Diving Swimming Water polo Archery Athletics Badminton Basketball 3x3 basketball Boxing Canoeing Cycling Equestrian Fencing Field hockey Football Golf Gymnastics Artistic gymnastics Handball Judo Modern pentathlon Rowing Rugby sevens Sailing Shooting Skateboarding Sport climbing Surfing Table tennis Taekwondo Tennis Triathlon Volleyball Beach volleyball Weightlifting Wrestling
Winter sports	Bobsleigh Bobsleigh Skeleton Curling Ice hockey Luge Skating Figure skating Short track speed skating Speed skating Skiing Alpine skiing Biathlon Cross-country skiing Freestyle skiing Nordic combined Ski jumping Snowboarding
2024 addition	Breaking
2026 addition	Ski mountaineering
Past sports	Aeronautics Alpinism Baseball / Softball Basque pelota Cricket Croquet Jeu de paume Karate Lacrosse Military patrol Polo Rackets Roque Rugby union (15-a-side) Tug of war Water motorsports
Demonstration sports	American football Australian football Bandy Bowling Budo Disabled skiing Gliding Glima Ice stock sport Korfball La canne Pesäpallo Roller hockey Savate Skijoring Sled dog racing Speed skiing Water skiing Winter pentathlon
Unofficial sports	Angling Art competitions Ballooning Boules Cannon shooting Cycle polo Dueling pistol eSports Fire fighting Gaelic football Hurling Kaatsen Kite flying Life saving Longue paume Motor racing Motorcycle racing Pigeon racing Wushu
Paralympic sports Olympic Gamesportal

v t e International taekwondo competitions
World	World Championships World Cup Team Championships Grand Slam Grand Prix World Junior Championships
Continental	African Championships Asian Championships European Championships Junior Pan American Championships
Multi-sport	Olympics Paralympics African Games Arab Games Asian Games Pan American Games Mediterranean Games Islamic Solidarity Games Pacific Games Universiade Youth Olympic Games Deaflympics
Other	Commonwealth Championships European Universities Taekwondo Championships