Venue: ExCeL
Dates: Wednesday 8 – Saturday 11 August
Gold medals up for grabs: 8
Athletes: 128
More than 60 million people in 190 countries around the world take part in Taekwondo
Taekwondo: a history of the sport
The modern form of Taekwondo wasn’t agreed until 1955, but the sport has its roots in various Korean forms of martial arts stretching back more than 2,000 years.
‘Taekwondo’ translates into English as 'the art of the foot and the fist' – an accurate description of the way it is played. Powerful kicks and punches are literally the name of the game.
Taekwondo at the Games
For a young sport, Taekwondo was quick to make its Games debut. It featured as a demonstration event in Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 before becoming a full medal sport at the Sydney 2000 Games.
Taekwondo is popular worldwide, with many nations competing for top place alongside the likes of Korea, China, USA and Iran. It is truly a world sport.
How to play
The aim is to land accurate kicks on the scoring area of your opponent.
The action takes place inside a 10 square metre zone on a mat, in three rounds of two minutes each, if the match has not been decided after this match time the game has a further exciting sudden death round.
At the Olympic Games, events are held in four weight classes for both men and women. Competitors wear a white uniform called a ‘Dobok’, and protective equipment. One competitor wears red protection, the other blue, to help the judges tell the difference.
Jargon buster
Deuk-jeom: A point.
Gam-jeom: A one-point penalty.
Chung: The contestant wearing blue.
Hong: The contestant wearing red.
Taekwonda: A Taekwondo athlete.
Get involved
For all the info you need to get fighting, contact the British Taekwondo Control Board. They will be able to give you the names and addresses of clubs in your local area
The LOCOG venues team will be creating arenas in the 100 acre space to host the events.
