WTF President Chungwon Choue participated as a torchbearer in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay in Lijiang, Yunnan Province in China on June 10, 2008.

As the 11th runner in the ancient town of Lijiang, Dr. Choue ran about 50 meters in the morning in his capacity as the president of an international sports federation, drawing a special attention from local media. He was interviewed by the China Daily and the Xinhwa news agency.

Under the theme “Journey of Harmony” and the slogan “Light the Passion Share the Dream,” the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay started on March 24 in Greece and continues until Aug. 8, the opening day of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The torch relay covers over 100 cities across the five continents of the world for a combined distance of 137,000 km and involves 21,880 torchbearers and 5,000 escort runners.

The very first torchbearer in Greece was Greek Alexandros Nikolaidis, the silver medalist in the men’s over 80kg taekwondo category at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

The WTF expects that the participation of WTF President Choue and Mr. Nikolaidis as torchbearers of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay would greatly help enhance the image of the WTF and taekwondo in the international sports community.

Last month, Dr. Choue sent a condolence letter, along with a donation of $3,000, to the Chinese Olympic Committee for the profound loss of lives from the devastating earthquake which hit the Sichuan province, which neighbors the Yunnan Province. Taekwondo is a compulsory subject at elementary schools in the Sichuan Province from 2007.