Taekwondo

In taekwondo athletes score mainly with kicks and also with punches; kicks to the head and spinning kicks earn more points. Bouts use electronic scoring vests and headgear.

History

Taekwondo took shape in Korea in the mid-twentieth century from older martial traditions; the name, adopted in 1955, means "the way of the foot and fist". The International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) was founded in 1966 and World Taekwondo (WT) in 1973. Taekwondo was a demonstration sport at Seoul 1988 and has been a full Olympic sport since Sydney 2000.

Major competitions

The Olympic Games, the World Taekwondo Championships, the Grand Slam and Grand Prix series and the European and Asian Championships.

Taekwondo in the Turkic world

Azerbaijan's Radik Isayev became Olympic heavyweight champion at Rio 2016, and Azerbaijani fighters also won gold at the Baku 2015 European Games. Türkiye's Servet Tazegül won Olympic gold in London in 2012, and Nur Tatar won two Olympic medals (silver in 2012, bronze in 2016).

Uzbekistan's Ulugbek Rashitov won Olympic gold twice in a row, at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. Taekwondo is also one of the most practised combat sports in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Famous Turkic taekwondo athletes

Radik Isayev, Milad Beigi Harchegani, Servet Tazegül, Nur Tatar, Hatice Kübra İlgün and Ulugbek Rashitov.