[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]The World Taekwondo Federation has been honored with ‘Federation of the Year’ at the Peace and Sports Awards 2016 for its World Taekwondo Cares Program which has made a valuable contribution to the development of social integration and peace through sport. The World Taekwondo Cares Program was created earlier this year as part of the 2016 WTF Development Program. The program aims to help promote taekwondo among the WTF’s 207 Member National Associations, prioritizing the development of grassroots programs, including those involving social minorities or refugees, rather
[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]BURNABY, Canada (Nov. 20, 2016) – The last four gold medals on the fifth and final day of the 2016 World Taekwondo Junior Championships were won by Great Britain, Slovenia, Iran and Russia. The top five national places in the championships went to Iran, Chinese Taipei, Russia, Turkey, and Korea in the female division. In the male division, the top five nations were Korea, Russia, Turkey, Iran and Chinese Taipei. Canada’s Skylar Park (-59kg) was named female MVP; the male MVP award went to Korea’s Chan-Ho Jung (-55kg). The Best Coach award in the female division was won
[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]BURNABY, Canada (Nov. 19, 2016) – Russia, Turkey, Korea and host country Canada all struck gold on the penultimate day of the five-day 2016 WTF World Taekwondo Junior Championships. Medals were up for grabs in the female -59kg, male -68kg, female -63kg and male -73kg categories in Burnaby’s Bill Copeland Sports Center. On Day 4, the cheerleading was in full swing, with many teams having appropriated the chant pioneered by Chinese Taipei and altered for their own purposes: “Let’s go (add nation here) - let’s go!” Many had also got hold of thundersticks, or were using kic
[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]BURNABY, Canada (Nov. 17, 2016) – Korea’s taekwondo talent pipeline is gushing:The nation seized three out of the four gold medals on offer on Day 2 of the 2016 WTF World Taekwondo Junior Championships, leaving one to be won by Thailand. On the second day of the five-day competition, medals were available in the female -46kg, female -49kg, male -51kg and male -55kg categories. Just prior to the semi-finals, Booyoung Scholarships were awarded to seven nations. Bangladesh, Botswana, Guadeloupe, Mongolia, Nepal, Rwanda and Ukraine each received US$5,000 from Booyoung, the
[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]BURNABY, Canada (Nov. 16, 2016) – Gold medals went to Iran and Vietnam in the female categories, while Korea won both golds up for grabs in the male divisions on Day 1 of the 2016 WTF World Taekwondo Junior Championships. The championships, which WTF President Chungwon Choue called “a road map to Tokyo 2020” features athletes aged 15-17. Burnaby’s Bill Copeland Sports Centre was full to the bursting point, and with many nations fielding vocal, 20-person teams, the event rocked to a noisy aural backdrop. With 846 competitors and 458 officials registered, representing 102 c
[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]November 9, 2016 - The world’s taekwondo family will assemble in Burnaby, Canada, next week as the Canadian town plays host to the WTF Council meeting and WTF General Assembly ahead of the 2016 WTF World Taekwondo Junior Championships. Since the 1st WTF World Taekwondo Junior Championships, Barcelona in 1996, a total of 846 athletes from 102 countries have registered for this 11th Junior Championships. The WTF Council meeting will take place on November 14 with the Council set to decide the hosts of the WTF Events between 2017 and 2021. The WTF received applications fro
[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]SEOUL, Korea (Oct. 19, 2016) – Lively discussions are taking place as the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) offers the world’s leading taekwondo coaches a voice in the future direction of the sport at the first-ever “WTF Coach Seminar.” The aims of the seminar, which has invited the coaches of the top 30 taekwondo nations from across the world, and runs from Oct. 17-Oct 21 in central Seoul, are two-fold: To share international best practice in taekwondo coaching and related national team issues; and to elicit feedback on WTF policy and the direction that the sport of taekw
[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]VATICAN CITY (October 5, 2016) - Taekwondo took a historic step today, with the WTF Demonstration Team demonstrating and the WTF president at one of the most iconic locations on earth: The Vatican in Rome. Under the theme “Sport at the Service of Humanity” the 1st Global Conference on Faith Sport kicked off on October 5 for a three-day event. It is a gathering of global leaders and influencers from the world of faith, sport, business and other relevant organizations –to discuss, in partnership, the interconnectedness of Faith and Sport and to explore the scope and limit
[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]LIMA, Peru (October 2, 2016): The 10th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Lima, Peru, came to a close on Sunday with the First Lady of Peru, Nancy Lange Kuczynski, attending the final day’s action, which delivered a total of 10 gold medals to athletes from six different countries. A total of 55 countries and 760 athletes took part in this year’s Championships – a record for the event – with the Republic of Korea topping the medals table. MVP awards for recognized poomsae were won, in the male category, by Kwang Ho Park from the Republic of Korea and, in the fema
[By NBC-1TV H J Yook]August 24, 2016: The four-day taekwondo competition of the Rio Olympics has ended with another striking show of taekwondo’s diversity. Ultimately, among eight weight categories (4 male and 4 female), 13 countries took home a medal in the men’s divisions, while 14 countries had female medalists. Among the many stories from Rio, British taekwondo star Jade Jones took home her third Olympic Gold in the women’s -57kg category, following on her wins in the London 2012 Games and the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Also, Jordan’s Ahmad Abughaush took home his country’s fi