Taekwondo

Taekwondo is a martial art sport involving the use of both hands and legs to overcome an opponent. The trademark of the sport is its combination of speedy kick movements.

Taekwondo may have had origins over 2000 years ago. There are also thoughts that it evolved from karate, or Chinese boxing or that it is an amalgam of elements of other Asian martial arts and Korean kickboxing. Taekwondo literally means “the way of hand and foot” or, more specifically, “the way of kicking and punching”. It was not until the 1950s that the sport was acknowledged as Korea’s pre-eminent martial art.

Taekwondo was a demonstration sport at Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992. The sport achieved full Olympic status, together with triathlon at Sydney 2000.

Qualification

There will be 50 men and 50 women competing in taekwondo at the Youth Olympic Games with a maximum of three males and three females per country.

Of the 50 competitors, 30 will qualify from the 2010 Junior World Championships. Then there are an additional 17 Universality places and Singapore as host nation are allocated three places.

Australia will not compete in taekwondo in Singapore 2010.

Age Group

Athletes competing in this sport must be born between 1/1/93 and 31/12/94.

Competition Format

Each weight category consists of a single elimination tournament. The winner of the final receives the gold medal and the loser of the final contest receives the silver medal. Losers to the finalists at the semi-finals are both awarded with bronze medals.

There are five weight categories:
M: - 48kg, 48 – 55kg, 55 – 63kg, 63 – 73kg, +73kg
W: - 44kg, 44 – 49kg, 49 – 55kg, 55 – 63kg, +63kg

Scoring

One referee and four judges manage the contest. For an effective attack to the trunk, a competitor obtains one point; for a successful turning kick to the trunk protector he/she will obtain two points; and for an effective foot technique to the face he/she obtains three points. There are no longer any additional points awarded per knock-down under the new competition rules.

There are two types of penalties: warning and deduction. Two warnings “Kyong-go” (warning penalties) or one “Gam-jeom” (deduction penalty) lead to the addition of one point to the opposing contestant. During a contest, if a contestant accumulates four penalty points then the contest is stopped, and his/her opponent is declared the winner by the referee. Contest scores are the sum of the points.

Differences with the World Youth Games

There are fewer weight categories in the Youth Olympic Games than the WTF Junior World Championships (five instead of 10). There is only one competition area for the Youth Olympic Games instead of multiple.

Venue - International Convention Centre (ICC)

Located in the heart of the Singapore business district, it has hosted some of the world’s biggest meetings, exhibitions and conventions. With 25,000 square metres of space, the convention and exhibition halls at the ICC will also be an excellent venue for the wrestling, judo, boxing, fencing, and handball events.

Australia and Olympic taekwondo

Australia’s short Olympic history in taekwondo has been prosperous. Lauren Burns won the first gold medal to be awarded in Olympic taekwondo competition when she won the flyweight category (under 49 kilograms) at the Sydney Games. Daniel Trenton also won a silver medal in the heavyweight class (over 80 kilograms). At the Beijing 2008 Games, Australia’s taekwondo athletes had a couple of close misses with Tina Morgan and Carmen Marton fighting towards a medal.