2022: Para Taekwondo’s March toward Parity

From its introduction into the prestigious Grand Prix Series, to its first fully integrated event, Para Taekwondo took major steps towards parity in 2022.

2022 has been a sensational year for Para Taekwondo. Here are eight key developments that illustrate the strides made throughout the year.

1. Para Taekwondo Joins Grand Prix Series Bright lights, ring walks, big-time fights – Para Taekwondo athletes joined their able-bodied siblings this year at Taekwondo’s biggest top-tier event series, the Grand Prix.

“The Para GP Series was a great success. It was a great feeling to see Para athletes have the same opportunities and compete at the same level as able-bodied athletes,” said WT Para Taekwondo Committee Chair Chakir Chelbat.

2. Para Taekwondo Goes to the Gala

Para Taekwondo’s Male and Female Athletes of the Year were named at World Taekwondo’s year-end Awards Gala – the first time Para Taekwondo was invited to the sport’s year-end shindig.

3. Para Taekwondo Leads Para Sport Integration

Para Taekwondo flexed its innovative muscle by becoming the first Para sport to hold a concurrent competition with its able-bodied counterparts. That paid dividends in media coverage: The European Championships in Manchester had Para Taekwondo’s finals feature on Great Britain’s national broadcaster BBC alongside Taekwondo’s biggest Olympic stars, offering Para fighters unprecedented access to eyeballs – both in the stadium and on TV.

4. As Good as Able-bodied

Can Para Sport achieve true equality? If Para Taekwondo is any example, the answer could be “yes.” Take the Pan American Taekwondo Union (PATU), which selected Juan Diego Garcia Lopez as its 2022 Athlete of the Year – ahead of able-bodied athletes.

“It is important for federations to recognise Para athletes to make us feel like part of an inclusive family,” Garcia Lopez told the IPC after receiving the prestigious award. “That motivates us to continue seeking to be the best.” The audience gets it, too.

“Spectators kept asking about the difference in rules [between able-bodied and Para Taekwondo”, said WT Para Taekwondo Committee Vice-Chair Usman Dildar. “They noted that able-bodied was more touching [with precision] while Para was more powerful and passionate. They preferred Para.”

5.

Participation Support Works

When Nepal’s Shrijana Ghising kicked her way into sporting history by winning Nepal’s first-ever gold medal at the Para Grand Prix Finals in December it showed more than just how athletes from small, less-funded national programs could compete and excel with better-funded competition.

“Nepal’s success is a testament to the support of World Taekwondo,” said WT Para Taekwondo Director Olof Hansson. “It shows what can happen when athletes get the opportunity to show their skill against the world’s best when they might otherwise not have that chance.”

World Taekwondo participation support also helped Ghana and the Central Africa Republic send three athletes each to the 2022 African Championships.

Uzbekistan which won 14 medals at Para Grand Prix events this year, and Azerbaijan, which won nine medals, were previous recipients of World Taekwondo participation support.

World Taekwondo has set aside $50,000 for 2023 to continue its support of underrepresented groups.

7. Para Taekwondo Supports Ukraine

Despite the war tearing apart their nation, five different Ukrainian athletes stepped onto the medal podiums at events in 2022, led by six-time World Champion Vika Marchuk’s European Championship silver and her pair of Para Grand Prix bronze medals. In a noble sign of the fraternal nature of the sport, the Ukrainian Para Taekwondo Team has enjoyed massive support from their counterparts in the Danish Para Taekwondo Team.

8. ‘Undisputed’ is a Disputed Label

World Para Taekwondo’s introduction of the “undisputed” label for fighters that had won each of the first three Para Grand Prix Series events caused a stir in the Para Taekwondo community, with international media jumping on the term, while athletes and coaches debated exactly who should earn the title. More widely, even 2022’s top fighters showed the difficulty of going an entire calendar year undefeated. With the busiest Para Taekwondo calendar in history on hand for 2023, the days of prohibitive favourites at the top of weight categories look to be a thing of the past.