Global InformationList of Olympic medalists in taekwondo information
Taekwondo is an Olympic sport that is contested at the Summer Olympic Games. It was introduced in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games as a demonstration sport, and made its debut as a full medal sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.[1] Both men and women compete in four events each defined by separate weight classes: flyweight, featherweight, middleweight and heavyweight. Traditionally, taekwondo competitions consist of eight weight classes for each gender, but Olympic taekwondo only has four due to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) limiting the total number of taekwondo entrants to 128.[2]
The competitions are conducted in accordance with the rules established by the World Taekwondo (WT).[3] The competition format for taekwondo is a single-elimination tournament to determine the gold and silver medal winners, and a repechage is used to determine the bronze medal winner(s).[4] in 2000 and 2004, a single repechage final determined the sole bronze medal winner, but a rule change in 2008 created two repechage finals that allowed for the bronze medal to be shared between two competitors.[5]
Iranian Hadi Saei (2 gold, 1 bronze), American Steven López (2 gold, 1 bronze), South Korean Hwang Kyung-Seon (2 gold, 1 bronze) and Mexican María del Rosario Espinoza (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) share the most medals in Taekwondo with three.[6][7] By defending her title at 2012 London Olympics, Hwang Kyung-Seon became the first woman ever to win three Olympic taekwondo medals. Hadi Saei and Steven López, along with Huang Chih-hsiung of Chinese Taipei, are the only three athletes to have won medals in multiple weight classes. Spanish Adriana Cerezo is the youngest athlete to win a medal (17 years, 242 days) and Hadi Saei is the oldest (32 years, 2 months, 13 days).[6][8] Rohullah Nikpai of Afghanistan became his country's first ever Olympic medalist with a bronze medal in 2008.[9] South Korea has been the most successful nation in Olympic taekwondo, winning 22 medals (12 gold, 3 silver, 7 bronze).[10] China is the second most successful nation with 11 medals (7 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze). A total of 32 gold medals, 32 silver medals and 48 bronze medals have been awarded since 2000 and have been won by athletes from 33 National Olympic Committees (NOC).[11]
| Table of contents | |
|---|---|
| Men |
Flyweight (58 kg) • Featherweight (68 kg) • Middleweight (80 kg) • Heavyweight (+80 kg) |
| Women |
Flyweight (49 kg) • Featherweight (57 kg) • Middleweight (67 kg) • Heavyweight (+67 kg) |
|
Statistics See also References | |
- ^ "Taekwondo Equipment and History". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ "Taekwondo Basics". NBC Olympics. NBC Universal. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ^ "Competition Rules". Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. Archived from the original on 24 August 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ^ "Taekwondo Competition Format". NBC Olympics. NBC Universal. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ^ "Competition Format". Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. Archived from the original on 24 August 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Hadi Saei". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Steven Lopez". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Chi Shu-Ju". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ^ Doucet, Lyse (3 November 2010). "Rohullah Nikpai fighting fit for Afghanistan". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ^ "All-Time Taekwondo Medal Standings". NBC Olympics. NBC Universal. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ^ "Taekwondo Medallists". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 31 December 2015.