Organizers of the 2024 Paris Paralympics, which had already included taekwondo among their events, announced the schedule for their games this week with the first day of competition set to see three taekwondo medals awarded. The IPC chose not to add karate to their 2028 games leaving taekwondo and para-judo, which is contested among judoka with vision impairment, as the only Asian-based martial arts included.
Ko was the head coach of the Korean team at the second World Taekwondo Championships in 1975, when they swept the gold in all eight divisions, and at the third world championships in 1977, when they captured seven of eight titles. In 1980, he authored the first book devoted solely to World Taekwondo Federation-style sparring.
Ko would eventually take up residence in Germany where he was instrumental in spreading Olympic-style taekwondo in Europe. In 2005 he was named chairman of the World Taekwondo Federation's technical committee. He was honored as "Grandmaster of the Year" by Taekwondo Times in 2008. It's been reported he died of heart failure after suffering from pneumonia.
- Joe Rogan Owes His Success to Taekwondo, Thai Boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ›
- 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Taekwondo Legend Jhoon Rhee ›
- Taekwondo Master Jhoon Rhee Says There Is No Such Thing as Advanced Stances and Positions! ›
The honorary 9th degree was presented by World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue and Kukkiwon President Dongsup Lee and received on behalf of Mohammed bin Salman by Saudi Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, who was also was honored with a 7th degree black belt. The move to honor the controversial Saudi Crown Prince comes just months after World Taekwondo was forced by international outcry to revoke the honorary 9th degree black belt they had once granted to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. In stripping Putin of his honorary black belt, they said his attack on Ukraine went against World Taekwondo's motto of “Peace is More Precious than Triumph.”
- Host Mexico Leads the Way at World Taekwondo Championships ›
- World Taekwondo Demonstration Team Falls Short on America's Got Talent ›
- World Taekwondo May Ban Countries for Competing in "North Korean-style" Taekwondo ›
While Mexico shined on home turf lead by men's heavyweight gold medalist Carlos Sansores, women's 49 kg winner Daniela Souza and women's 67 kg champion Leslie Soltero, it was another disappointing showing for South Korea in the sport they created. After failing to win gold at the last Olympics, South Korea's two golds in Mexico were the fewest they've earned in world championship competition since the first world tournament in 1973 when there were only two divisions contested.
The United States captured one gold medal, albeit in controversial fashion, as Makayla Greenwood defeated China's Zuo Ju in the women's 53 kg category. Zuo was up by two points with just two seconds left on the clock when Greenwood threw a spinning wheel kick that appeared to completely miss her opponent. Despite the booing of the crowd, the kick was scored and upheld on video review giving Greenwood the title.
- A Short History of Black Belt Magazine ›
- Black Belt Magazine Celebrates 60 Years of Martial Arts Coverage ›
- Judo Blog: Report on World Veteran’s Judo Results ›
