This summer in Paris, taekwondo sees its seventh Olympics, now as a more captivating and fairer sport with new sparring rules under landmark settings, according to the World Taekwondo (WT) president.
The Olympic taekwondo venue is in the heart of Paris, where the sport was officially selected as an Olympic sport 30 years ago. The stadium is the historic Grand Palais, where the World Expo was held in 1900.
“I have high expectations for the event being held in this stadium, which is a more special venue than any other Olympic stadium in history,” WT President Choue Chung-won said during a recent interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul ahead of the Summer Olympics.
“We’ve been making changes since Sydney 2000, but this time we have a new set of competition rules and the sparring area will be closer to the audience,” he said. Taekwondo first appeared as an official Olympic sport at the 2000 Summer Games in the major Australian city.
The stadium at Grand Palais in downtown Paris, which Choue has already visited ahead of the event, seats 8,000 spectators.
Tickets are already sold out and the grand and picturesque atmosphere could overwhelm and even intimidate athletes, judges and spectators, Choue explained, as he expects the broadcast will become “a great spectacle” once it goes to broadcast.
Under such unusual and new circumstances, the chances to win will be equally difficult for all competitors, he said. The key to victory will come down to who performs as they have done on a daily basis, Choue explained.
Another raft of changes to be introduced for the 2024 Paris Games will be seen in the competition rules.
Up until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, taekwondo had a three-round cumulative scoring system with two minutes for each round. To add more intensity and dynamics to the 커뮤니티 game, matches will now be decided in a best-of-three format. Athletes must win two of the three rounds to win a match, which will minimize “wait-and-see” strategies.
To ensure fairness of judgment, the sport has made thorough preparations for video equipment and coach-referee training.
Ahead of the Paris Olympics, 26 international taekwondo referees and 32 national team coaches from around the world participated in May in a coach-referee joint training camp in Muju County, North Jeolla Province.
“There can always be human error in sporting events where there is a referee. The key is how much effort is put into minimizing it and helping the referees’ mind to be fairer,” he said, adding that since the introduction of PSS electronic equipment, there have been almost no questions or arguments on referees’ decisions.
Choue also believes sports should take the lead for humanitarian initiatives and social contributions.
“Sports is more than just entertainment and competition. It can play a big role in terms of how we contribute to our society,” he said, underscoring that 134 taekwondo athletes will participate in this year’s Olympics, a record-high number for the sport.