 IOC President Jacques Rogge, center, joins WTF President Choue Chung-won, second from right, GAISF President Hein Verbruggen, left, ASOIF President Denis Oswald, second from left, and Noutais Jacques, president of the Benin Taekwondo Federation, to cut a cake during an opening ceremony of a new WTF office at the MSI in Lausanne, Switzerland, on May 5, 2009. / Courtesy of WTF |
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
Taekwondo has consolidated its status as an Olympic sport, as the sport has secured a place for the 2016 Olympic program.
Most experts believe that taekwondo has a brighter future as an Olympic sport after 2020 and onwards, mainly thanks to the world taekwondo governing body's ceaseless efforts for the betterment of the sport.
On Aug. 13, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board proposed the list of 26 core sports, including taekwondo, and two additional sports, rugby and golf, to be included in the official program of the 2016 Olympic Games. The proposal will be sent to the full IOC Session for a final decision in Copenhagen, Denmark in October 2009.
Taekwondo was adopted as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and again at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. The Korea-originated sport debuted as an official program at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. It was again an Olympic sport at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The IOC Session in Singapore in July 2005 voted to include taekwondo in the official program of the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Under the strong leadership of Choue Chung-won, who took office as new president of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) in June 2004, the WTF has strived to maintain taekwondo as an Olympic sport.
Over the last five years, the WTF has successfully made continuous changes and innovations aimed at making taekwondo competitions more dynamic and fairer as a global sport.
It has, among others, introduced an instant video replay system and an electronic body protector system, as well as a new scoring system, which grants an athlete up to three points per kick to the head, under revised WTF Competition Rules.
Among other major changes to the WTF Competition Rules were the reduction in the competition area from 12 meter by 12 meters to 8 meters by 8 meters, the introduction of a strengthened 10-second rule, under which a passive competitor receives a warning from the referee.
The revised rules allow for come-from-behind victories to enhance spectator appeal and the new scoring system has helped keep both competitors and spectators fully engaged until the end of the match.
A good case was the 2009 WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan, which adopted the electronic body protector for the first time as the WTF-promoted event and an instant video replay system.
It has heightened TV exposure of taekwondo competitions and made the sport more media-friendly with the introduction of a world athlete ranking system in 2009.
The WTF has also enhanced the transparency of its financial management, while further globalizing the WTF by expanding its office in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The WTF has strived to bring taekwondo beyond a mere sport, focusing more on youth education and the promotion of world peace in line with the pursuit of the IOC.
The WTF organized the 2009 OVEP (Olympic Values Education Program) Seminar on Aug. 6, 2009 in Seoul, as the opener of the week-long 1st World Youth Taekwondo Camp held in Seoul and Muju, Korea.
In 2006, the WTF launched the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, as part of its efforts to expand the global taekwondo base and to make taekwondo being enjoyed by all, regardless of age, gender and physical condition. The second and third World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships were held in Korea and Turkey in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Taekwondo poomsae was included for the first time in the official program of the 2009 Summer Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia.
The WTF launched the Taekwondo Peace Corps in July 2008 and has dispatched a total of 107 taekwondo students to 25 countries on three occasions. It envisions an expanded "Sport Peace Corps," which involves all Olympic sports.
It also created the first World Para-Taekwondo Championships in June 2009 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with a view to putting taekwondo in the official program of the Paralympic Games.
All these positive changes and visions have been welcomed by almost all WTF member national associations.
Even the IOC President Jacques Rogge spoke well of the WTF's continued efforts for the betterment of taekwondo and the WTF, when he attended the opening ceremony of the WTF Lausanne office on May 5, 2009.
In his congratulatory remarks, Dr. Rogge publicly appreciated the WTF for its "exemplary collaboration with the IOC." He continued to say, "If I make a comparison between Sydney 2000 and now, there is a huge change. You have changed from a rather conservative sport into a very modern, dynamic sport."
The WTF Lausanne office will be in charge of global publicity, marketing and international relations with the IOC, WADA and other International Federations, while the Seoul office will be responsible for taekwondo development and technical issues.
Actually the WTF has kept closer relations with the IOC over the last five years by constantly informing the IOC of updated information on taekwondo and the WTF.
IOC President Rogge visited the headquarters of the WTF in Seoul, Korea on April 7, 2006 on the occasion of the 2006 SportAccord international sports conference.
WTF President Choue also sees the future of taekwondo quite bright.
"As taekwondo has secured a berth in the 2016 Olympic Games, these positive changes promise a brighter future of taekwondo as an Olympic sport," Choue said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. "We should not forget the fact that there have been efforts of many striving to make the sport of taekwondo more dynamic and fairer and cleaner."
The WTF has a global membership of 189 countries, which puts taekwondo among the top 10 International Sports Federations in terms of the number of member nations. It expects the number will shortly exceed the 190 mark.
The WTF's ceaseless efforts have resulted in good medal distribution at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
A total of 64 countries participated in the taekwondo competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games through qualification tournaments and wild cards, compared with 60 countries at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and 51 at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
At the Beijing Olympic Games, a total of 22 countries, including Afghanistan, won at least on medal, compared with 13 at 2004 Athens and 18 at 2000 Sydney.
All these changes for the betterment of taekwondo and the WTF have helped make taekwondo competitions much fairer and more action-packed.
Mainly thanks to the WTF's stepped-up referee education and other systems, the number of protests has recently sharply dropped and a more orderly environment has been brought to taekwondo competition.
Only two protests were registered during the world and five continental qualification tournaments for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, a sharp decrease compared with previous competitions.
To ensure the fairness in refereeing and judging, the WTF decided to adopt electronic body protectors at the upcoming World Taekwondo Championships in October 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the first time in the history of the World Championships. The WTF's ad-hoc Electronic Protector Committee, headed by Ivan Dibos, IOC member of Peru, recommended the use of electronic protectors at the 2009 World Championships.
The WTF has put an equal emphasis on anti-doping to enhance the safety of athletes. It accepted the 2009 World Anti-Doping Code in May 2008 in Izmir, Turkey to become the second International Sports Federation.
The WTF adopted the WTF Code of Ethics at its Council meeting in December 2008 in Ankara, Turkey, which is expected to enhance the level of ethics among WTF people in the management of taekwondo competitions.
For the first time ever in WTF history, the WTF signed a five-year global sponsorship agreement with Samsung in 2004 and a four-year global partnership pact with Macquarie Group of Companies, Korea in 2008.
ksw@koreatimes.co.kr
