the World Taekwondo Federation kicked off a coach seminar for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Busan, Korea on June 16, 2008.
The three-day Olympic coach seminar, the first of its kind in WTF history, drew about 100 national coaches and officials from about 50 countries qualified for the taekwondo competition at the Beijing Olympic Games.
In his welcome speech, WTF President Chungwon Choue stressed the importance of fair play at taekwondo competitions, especially at the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.
“The martial art-sport of taekwondo places great value on proper behavior, respect and discipline among practitioners. Projecting the integrity and essence of our sport through fair and best behavior will certainly set a turning point in the sport of taekwondo,” Dr. Choue said.
He said, “The taekwondo competition should be a setting in which athletes and coaches will accept the outcome, and follow proper protest procedures, if necessary. Respecting the results and the referee’s decision is a virtue of sportsmanship and taekwondo spirit.”
The opening day of the seminar also featured four special lectures on fair play and the Olympic Movement. The presenters were Mr. Ivan Dibos, the IOC member from Peru and member of the WTF Council; Mr. Andrew Ryan, ASOIF director; Dr. Ju-ho Chang, president of the Korean Olympic Academy; and WTF Secretary General Jin Suk Yang.
Under the theme “the Olympic Movement,” Mr. Dibos said, “I am certain that this WTF Olympic coach seminar will serve as a good opportunity for Olympic taekwondo coaches to better understand the Olympic Movement and the Olympic Games, thus helping show the world the nicest image of taekwondo and the WTF.” “This seminar, the first of its kind in WTF history, will certainly help taekwondo retain its Olympic status.”
In his video presentation, ASOIF Director Mr. Andrew Ryan also emphasized the importance of fair play.
“First of all I would like to apologize that I am unable to join you in person for this seminar,” Mr. Ryan said. “The Beijing Games will be very important for the sport of taekwondo as the eyes of the Olympic family will be on the sport keen to see the results of reforms and changes put in place over the last few years since the Games in Athens in 2004.”
“These Games will be even more important due to the fact that an important decision will be made by the session of the IOC when it meets next year in October in Copenhagen, Denmark,” he said. “The performance and image of each sport from the Beijing Games will be fresh in the minds of IOC members when they decide to reduce the number of ‘core’ sports on the Olympic Summer Games program from 26 to 25.”
Mr. Ryan said, “It is for this reason that all sport and IFs present their sports in the best possible way during the Games in Beijing this year and that all the stakeholders who love and support the sport of taekwondo work together in a total spirit of unity to show the world the sports of taekwondo and the values it wishes to be associated with it.”
“All sport is based on a set of democratically agreed rules which governs the conduct of athletes, athlete entourage, caches, judges and officials. Some of these rules cover all sport at the Games such as those contained in the Olympic Charter and the WADA Code for anti-doping,” he said. “Individual sets of rules and laws for sports govern the conduct of competition in each sport and it is essential that all participants at whatever level respect these rules and laws. Without this inherent philosophy which broadly covers the concept of fair play, sports competition becomes meaningless and its contribution to society through the viewing audience, by education, role-model and example, is largely destroyed.”
Under the theme “Olympism: As the Core Values of the Olympic Movement,” KOA President Dr. Ju-ho Chang explained in detail about Olympism and its core values for the participants in the afternoon session.
WTF Secretary General Jin Suk Yang made a special lecture under the topic “Why We Are in Olympics.” Mr. Cao Tao, the taekwondo competition manager of the BOCOG, made a progress report for the seminar attendees.
Dr. Kyu-hwan Lee, international cooperation director of the KADA, made a lecture on anti-doping rules.
All the participants in the Olympic coach seminar were invited to a welcome dinner hosted by the city of Busan.
On June 17, the second day of the seminar, will feature lectures on competition rules and interpretation, gyong-go cases, guidelines on coaches’ undesirable acts, and guidelines on match process.