Taekwondo at the Summer Olympics

Background

The quest to bring taekwondo to the Olympics began in 1974 in the United States when taekwondo was admitted into the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). One of the AAU's primary roles is to establish standards for various sports nationwide. The World Taekwondo Federation's technical standards were adopted by the AAU Taekwondo group.

In 1975, taekwondo became an affiliate of the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). The GAISF promotes cooperation among various international sports federations and works closely with the Olympics movement. Five years later, in 1980, the WTF was granted recognition by the IOC. The following year, taekwondo was one of the primary events in the World Games, an international competition specifically for non-Olympic events. In 1982, taekwondo was designated an official demonstration sport for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, and for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.

In 1986 and 1987, taekwondo was included in the following international sporting events: World Cup (1986), Asian Games (1986), All-Africa Games (1986), and the Pan American Games (1987). In 1994, the IOC adopted taekwondo as an official Olympic sport for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

Olympic competition format

For Olympic competition, there will be a single elimination tournament for each of the weight categories. The winner of the tournament final will receive the gold medal, and the loser will receive the silver medal while a Repechage competition will occur for the bronze medal contest.

Repechage: Single elimination in the morning session runs until the finalists have been decided. At this point, anyone who has lost to a finalist in the single elimination competition enters the repechage, the reasoning being that any one of these fighters might have been the 'third best' fighter, had they not come up against one of the top 2. "In the repechage, the losers of the semifinals during the elimination phase will be seeded directly to each of repechage finals, but on the opposite side of the bracket. Other losers will advance to the repechage unseeded, at the same side of the bracket in which they contested during the elimination phase." The athletes who lost to the two finalists in the round of 16 each face the athlete that lost to the same finalist in the quarterfinals; the winners of those contests face the athlete that lost to the same finalist in the semifinals. The two finalists of the repechage each receive a bronze medal.

Up until the 2012 Summer Olympics, a National Olympic Committee could only send a maximum of two men and two women competitors, without regard whether it is the host nation. This restriction has been lifted for the 2016 Summer Olympics, so each National Olympic Committee may now qualify one athlete per weight category.

Events

Medals are awarded in four different weight classes for both men and women.

Medal table

Updated after the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Number of athletes by nation