Back to paralympic.org
IPC Logo new_1.jpg
Para Taekwondo

HISTORY OF PARA TAEKWONDO

Taekwondo was introduced as a full member of the International Paralympic Committee in 2015 and will make its Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

A taekwondo athlete kicks another taekwondo athlete
ⒸWorld Taekwondo Federation
Taekwondo will be contested at the Paralympics for the first time in Tokyo

 

World Taekwondo (WT), the sport’s governing body, began developing the kyorugi (sparring) discipline for Para athletes in 2005. Since 2013, poomsae (martial art forms) is being developed as a competition format for athletes of all impairments.

In the Paralympics, athletes will compete in kyorugi (limb impairments and athletes with an arm amputation).
In 2009, the first WTF Para Taekwondo World Championships were held in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

The eighth edition took place in Antalya, Turkey, in 2019 and was the biggest to date, featuring almost 400 athletes from 69 nations. Seven new nations were represented for the first time, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Switzerland, Tanzania and Uganda.