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. 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.
The competitions are conducted in accordance with the rules established by the World Taekwondo (WT). 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). 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.
Iranian Hadi Saei (2 gold, 1 bronze), American Steven López (2 gold, 1 bronze), South Korean Hwang Kyung-Seon (2 gold, 1 bronze), Thai Panipak Wongpattanakit (2 gold, 1 bronze) and Mexican María del Rosario Espinoza (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) share the most medals in Taekwondo with three. 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). Rohullah Nikpai of Afghanistan became his country's first ever Olympic medalist with a bronze medal in 2008. South Korea has been the most successful nation in Olympic taekwondo, winning 22 medals (12 gold, 3 silver, 7 bronze). 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).
Men
Flyweight (58 kg) 2000 Sydney2004 Athens2008 Beijing2012 London2016 Rio de Janeiro2020 Tokyo2024 Paris2028 Los Angeles
Medals Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total111242110211024102351001100110018011201121001010101120011001100110011 (ROC)00110011Total17 nations771226
Featherweight (68 kg) 2000 Sydney2004 Athens2008 Beijing2012 London2016 Rio de Janeiro2020 Tokyo2024 Paris2028 Los Angeles
Medals Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total120022112431113111351102610237011280101010110002211001100110011Total13 nations771226
Middleweight (80 kg) 2000 Sydney2004 Athens2008 Beijing2012 London2016 Rio de Janeiro2020 Tokyo 2024 Paris2028 Los Angeles
Heavyweight (+80 kg) 2000 Sydney2004 Athens2008 Beijing2012 London2016 Rio de Janeiro2020 Tokyo 2024 Paris2028 Los Angeles
Women
Flyweight (49 kg) 2000 Sydney2004 Athens2008 Beijing2012 London2016 Rio de Janeiro2020 Tokyo2024 Paris2028 Los Angeles
Featherweight (57 kg) 2000 Sydney2004 Athens2008 Beijing2012 London2016 Rio de Janeiro2020 Tokyo2024 Paris2028 Los Angeles
Middleweight (67 kg) 2000 Sydney2004 Athens2008 Beijing2012 London2016 Rio de Janeiro2020 Tokyo 2024 Paris2028 Los Angeles
Heavyweight (+67 kg) 2000 Sydney2004 Athens2008 Beijing2012 London2016 Rio de Janeiro2020 Tokyo 2024 Paris2028 Los Angeles
Statistics
Athlete medal leaders Athletes who won at least two medals are listed below. Athlete Nation Gender OlympicsGoldSilverBronze Total Male 2000–2008 2 0 1 3 Male 2000–2008 2 0 1 3 Female 2004–2012 2 0 1 3 Female 2016–2024 2 0 1 3 Female 2000–2004 2 0 0 2 Female 2008–2012 2 0 0 2 Female 2012–2016 2 0 0 2 Female 2012–2020 2 0 0 2 Male 2020–2024 2 0 0 2 Female 2008–2016 1 1 1 3 Male 2016–2020 1 0 1 2 Male 2016–2024 1 0 1 2 Female 2020–2024 1 0 1 2 Male 2004–2008 1 0 1 2 Male 2008–2012 1 0 1 2 Male 2008–2016 1 0 1 2 Male 2012–2016 1 0 1 2 Male 2004–2008 0 2 0 2 Male 2000–2004 0 1 1 2 Male 2008–2012 0 1 1 2 Male 2012–2016 0 1 1 2 Female 2020–2024 0 1 1 2 Male 2020-2024 0 1 1 2 Male 2012–2016 0 1 1 2 Male 2012–2016 0 1 1 2 Female 2012–2016 0 1 1 2 Female 2016–2020 0 1 1 2 Male 2000–2004 0 0 2 2 Male 2008–2012 0 0 2 2 Female 2016–2020 0 0 2 2 Female 2016–2020 0 0 2 2 Female 2016–2020 0 0 2 2 / Female 2016–2024 0 0 2 2 Male 2020–2024 0 0 2 2 The years indicate the Olympics at which the medals were won.
Medals per year × NOC did not exist# Number of medals won by the NOC– NOC did not win any medals Nation1896–19960004081216202428Total Afghanistan (AFG) ––11––– 2 –––1––– 1 2–––––– 2 ––––3–1 4 ––1–1–1 3 1–1–––1 3 1223212 13 2321–1– 9 ––21–21 6 –––1––– 1 2111–11 7 ––1–1–– 2 –1––12– 4 1212112 10 –––1––– 1 1––1––– 2 ––12331 10 121–––– 4 –––––1– 1 12111–4 10 ––12–11 5 ––––211 4 1–––––– 1 ––––111 3 ––1–––– 1 12211–– 7 ––––1–– 1 ––1–––– 1 –––––1– 1 1–1–––– 2 / ROC 1––214– 8 –––1121 5 4442533 25 1––321– 7 –111211 7 –––––12 3 1122121 10 1232111 11 –––––11 2 –11–––– 2 1–––––– 1
See also World Taekwondo Championships World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships Lists of Olympic medalists
References General
2000 2004 2008
Specific