Featherweight action at Sydney 2000.
The Korean symbols that make up "Taekwondo" (Ü권ë„) translate to foot, fist, way. The way of the fist and the foot has a mysterious and much-debated past, but it seems to have developed from several different philosophical strains of Korean martial arts. During the Japanese occupation in the first half of the 20th Century, the style went underground.
Martial arts flourished after World War II as Koreans made use of them to carve out a national and cultural identity. During the Korean War, the style that would later be called taekwondo became an institution, after South Korean President Syngman Rhee watched an exhibition in which a master broke 13 roof tiles with one punch. Rhee was so impressed, he ordered that the entire army learn it.
In taekwondo, the kicks are fast as lightning, and require expert timing. But while "kung fu" was a label applied to Chinese martial arts by Westerners, taekwondo was the name given to Korean sparring techniques by Koreans. In the 1950's, the government ordered that schools throughout the country unify under a single system to create a single art. The word "taekwondo" wasn't adopted until 1955.
The well-packaged sport spread quickly around the world, and is currently practiced in 123 countries. When Seoul hosted the Olympics in 1988, organizers used the opportunity to present taekwondo as a demonstration sport. It was so well-received that Barcelona hosted a demonstration as well. In 2000, taekwondo made its official Olympic debut with four weight classes each for men and women.
Competitors wear full-body protection and collect points by striking an opponent's head, abdomen and the two sides of the body. Matches are made up of three rounds -- three minutes each for men, two minutes for women -- and a single overtime round takes place if there's a tie at the end of regulation. Penalties are assessed when a competitor breaks the rules. A match can end by knockout if an opponent stays down for 10 seconds.
Many moves from the other Olympic martial art, the balance game of judo, are unwelcome here. But the competition format is similar. The competitor list is winnowed down in a single-elimination tournament, and losers to the two finalists are split into pools and fight for bronze. Two bronze medals are awarded per weight class.
Taekwondo Fun Facts:
- Greece's Michail Mouroutsos was the first-ever gold medalist in taekwondo (Hellene! Hellene!). He won the flyweight class at the Sydney 2000 Games on September 27. Lauren Burns of Australia won the first women's medal the next day; she's the daughter of 1960's Aussie pop star Ronnie Burns, who had a hit with a Vietnam War protest song called "Smiley."
- The weight class in Sydney that Burns won was notable for another reason. American Kay Poe was the No. 1 ranked flyweight fighter in the world, but suffered a severe knee injury in the semifinals of the U.S. trials and had to forfeit the final match. Her opponent and best friend, Ester Kim, sacrificed her spot on the Olympic team so that Poe could go to Sydney. The reason most Americans didn't get to hear about Kim's selflessness is because Poe, not fully recovered, lost in the first round to eventual bronze medalist Hanne Hough Poulsen of Denmark.
- Taekwondo has eight weight classes each for men and women, but the halving of that number was a concession to the IOC, which didn't want to have to give out 16 sets of medals.
- Because of its high-flying foot action, taekwondo can produce some spectacular knockouts. Here is the 2004 men's heavyweight final between Moon Dae-Sung of South Korea and Alexandros Nikolaidis of Greece.
As noted in The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics, Moon later said, "My left leg is not very strong and I had to protect it. But, suddenly, Nikolaidis' face came into it."
In 2008:
As in Athens, the taekwondo tournaments will take place at the very end of the Games, from August 20 to 23 (Days 12-15). The venue is the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium.
The weight classes are as follows: for men, there will be competitions in flyweight (under 128 lbs.), featherweight (150 lbs.), welterweight (176 lbs.) and heavyweight (176 lbs. and over). On the women's side, flyweight (under 108 lbs.), featherweight (126 lbs.), welterweight (148 lbs.) and heavyweight (148 lbs. and above). Sixteen fighters will take part in each class, and each country can enter up to two per division.
All-Time Medal Standings:
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 |
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