World Taekwondo to Celebrate 50 Years of Success in 2023

2023 is going to be a very big year for the World Taekwondo family as WT celebrates its Golden Jubilee.

World Taekwondo - originally, the World Taekwondo Federation - was founded on May 28, 1973. In the 50 years since then, the federation has put a formerly little-known sport into the Olympics, and has made the Korean word for “the way of foot and fist” into a globally recognised brand in all languages.

Over the past half century, World Taekwondo’s achievements include:

Choue Presents to Board at Olympic Refuge Foundation Meeting

MADRID, Spain

(Jun. 1, 2022)

Chair of the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF), Chungwon Choue attended the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) Board Meeting held on June 1 hosted at the Spanish Olympic Committee in Madrid, Spain, under the leadership of ORF Chairman Thomas Bach.

During the meeting, Bach and members of the ORF praised the contributions of the THF for supporting refugees around the world.

Choue presented an update on the Terrains d’Avenir program, which is currently ongoing in Paris, France, in cooperation with the ORF. He also spoke on the recent Hope and Dreams Taekwondo Championships, a dedicated event for refugee athletes, that was inaugurated in Jordan.

ORF board members visited the Alejandro Blanco Sport Center for Refugees in Getafe and met with refugees using the facilities to train in various sports with the support of the Spanish Olympic Committee. Choue and President of the Spanish Taekwondo Federation Jesus Castellanos Pueblas met with Ukrainian children and teenagers learning Taekwondo from an instructor of the Spanish federation.

• Growing its membership base to 212 Member National Associations, plus one Refugee Team

• Being included in six consecutive Olympic Games (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020), with Paris 2024 and LA 2028 on the horizon

• Debuting in the Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020

• Organising hundreds of top-tier events including 25 World Championships, 13 Junior Championships, five Cadet Championships, 12 Poomsae Championships, and nine Para Taekwondo Championships

• Being recognised as the leading international federation within the Olympic family for humanitarian activities

Naturally, WT has multiple events planned to celebrate this proud history throughout 2023.

Under the theme for the year “Peace in Mind, Taekwondo at Heart” World Taekwondo will organise a special gala at the World Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 28 to commemorate the best male and female athletes from each Olympic and Paralympic Games.

During the event, we will also honour the founding Member National Associations of World Taekwondo that participated in the inaugural World Championships and General Assembly on May 28, 1973.

The federation will erect a Taekwondo statue in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, this November.

“We have much to celebrate, and much to be proud of in 2023,” said WT President Chungwon Choue. “Let’s made 2023 a new start as well look towards our first century.”