This page focuses on Taekwondo at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Taekwondo is one of a number of martial arts appearing in this Olympics. The 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo, Japan and will run from July 24 to August 09, 2020. For information on other Olympic martial arts (i.e. Judo and Boxing), please visit Black Belt Wiki’s section on Martial Arts at the Olympics.
Wiki – Best Taekwondo Books
Taekwondo Olympic Sparring
Taekwondo is a Korean martial arts. At the Olympics, Taekwondo participants compete to win sparring matches. Unlike Karate (which has kumite/sparring and kata events at the Olympics), Taekwondo participants at the Olympics do not compete via Taekwondo forms & Taekwondo patterns. The Taekwondo sparring weight classes include men’s under 58 kg, 58-68 kg, 68-80 kg, 80+ kg and women’s under 49 kg, 49-57 kg, 57-67 kg, 67+kg.
Taekwondo Olympic Controversies
In recent years, Taekwondo organizers have changed Olympic rules in order to try and make Olympic Taekwondo more exciting. For example, Taekwondo participants are now awarded more points for tactics such as spinning kicks to the head. Organizers are worried that Taekwondo might be eliminated from future Olympics and/or replaced by Karate.
Taekwondo Olympic Scoring Rules
According to the Tokyo Olympic website, “Points are awarded for landing an attack to the protector. Three points are awarded for a straight kick to the head, and five points for a spinning kick to the head; two points are awarded for a straight kick to the torso, and four points for a spinning kick to the torso; and one point is awarded for a punch to the torso”. Unlike Olympic Karate (where strikes do not hit an opponent), Olympic Taekwondo participants must hit their opponent in order to score points.
Watch the video below to see how this new point system works.
Past Taekwondo Gold Medals – By Country
- 2016 Olympics: S. Korea – 2, China – 2, UK – 1, Azerbaijan – 1, Ivory Coast – 1 and Jordan – 1.
- 2012 Olympics: Spain – 1, China – 1, S. Korea – 1, Turkey – 1, UK – 1, Italy – 1, Argentina – 1 and Serbia – 1.
Taekwondo Scoring Rules – Olympics
Taekwondo Heavyweight Championship (80+ KG) – 2012 Olympics
Taekwondo at the Olympics
Image provided by Wikimedia Commons
References
- Toyko 2020 Olympic games, Taekwondo, https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/sport/olympic/taekwondo