World Taekwondo Championships

While taekwondo is one of the few sports that is unknown to the majority of people around the world, it is quickly increasing in popularity. This martial arts sports was first seen in Korea, and then later spread to the rest of the world. The first World Taekwondo Championships was held in 1971. Since then, this competition has gained more popularity around the world as an increasing amount of participants from multiple countires come together to enter this competition.

This year’s World Taekwondo Championships was held, for the first time, in Manchester, Great Britain. It was the 24th edition and was held from May 15 to May 19. There were approximately 1000 contestants who came from around 150 countries from all over the world. All of the matches of the competition were held inside of the Manchester Arena. There are seven different events for each gender, each event having a specific weight limit. The events were as followed, ordered by lightest fighters to heaviest fighters; Fin weight, Fly weight, Batam weight, Feather weight, Light weight, Welter weight, Middle weight, and Heavy weight. The weight limits for each event varied from under 54 kg all the way to above 87 kg.

The competition itself was packed with excitement as all of the atheletes gave outstanding performances. Although Taekwondo is native to Korea, it didn’t stop athletes from other countries receiving medals in each of the different events. In fact, most of the gold medals were won by ahtletes from countries that were foreign to Taekwondo. However, when the overall medals and points were added up, it was no surprise that South Korea was on the top of the list. Great Britain and China were both very close behind South Korea. As for overall team ranking, both South Korean teams were leading, while China and Great Britain also followed closely behind.

This year’s World Taekwondo Championships ended well, but it is a shame that other countries couldn’t break the norm and overtake the record of the South Koreans. However, it won’t be hard to imagine Great Britain or China overtaking South Korea in the 2021 World Taekwondo Championships.

Featured image- Two atheletes vigorously competing for first place Photo Courtesy of Nancy Gillen

by Andy Kim