MAIN Sports 2012 Summer Olympics Taekwondo

Taekwondo is roughly translated from the Korean as "the way of the hand and foot". It is an ancient sport best typified by lightening fast kicks and punches which have been wowing spectators at the Olympics for the past decade.

Centuries old, the practice of taekwondo originated in Korea where today the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) oversees the official rules and regulations of the sport, which only became officially organized internationally in the late 20th century.

After premiering as a demonstration sport in 1988 and 1992, taekwondo has been an official Olympic sport since the 2000 Games.

Today, Korea leads in Olympic gold medals in taekwondo, followed by China and the U.S. ...


More information about Olympic taekwondo around the Web:

Taekwondo | Olympic sport | London 2012 - Complete overview including dates, venue and number of gold medals up for grabs, plus background and rules of the sport including fun facts and trivia, related news and updates.

International Olympic Committee - Taekwondo - Athlete profiles, photo gallery, the full Olympic schedule, plus lots of good information on the sport's history at the Olympics with related Flash presentation.

NBC Olympics - Taekwondo - The complete U.S. TV schedule, star athlete bios & profiles, the latest news & updates, background information on the sport, related fan forum.

BBC Olympics - Taekwondo - Olympic coverage with everything from beginner's guides through their excellent news coverage of all the teams including photos and video reports.

U.S. Olympic Committee - taekwondo - The official site of Team USA with the latest news headlines, athlete photos & profiles, along with taekwondo tips on getting started and training information.

also see in Olympics -> Olympic judo