Gold eluded Korean taekwondo in Tokyo. Four seek to reclaim it.

Olympic Sports

Published: 25 Jul. 2024, 16:20

Gold eluded Korean taekwondo in Tokyo. Four seek to reclaim it.

Korea's Lee Da-bin faces Kazakhstan's Kansel Dennis in the semifinals of the women's +67-kilogram class at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Linan Sports and Culture Exhibition Center in Hangzhou, China on Sept. 28, 2023. [YONHAP]

For the first time, in Tokyo in 2021, Korea did not top a single taekwondo podium at the Olympics.

None of Korea’s six taekwondo practitioners managed to win a gold medal across the men’s or women’s weight divisions. It dealt a blow to Korea, the inventor of the combat sport.

This year, two men and two women will be tasked with starting a new gold-medal streak in the sport at the Paris Olympics.

Park Tae-joon and Seo Geon-woo will represent Korea among the men while Kim Yu-jin and Lee Da-bin represent Korea among the women.

Lee, 27, is the sole returning Olympian. She was the only Korean athlete to reach a final round in Tokyo but missed out on gold, earning a silver medal in the women’s +67-kilogram division.

Lee Da-bin, left, competes against Millicha Mandic of Serbia in the women's +67-kilogram taekwondo final in Chiba, Japan. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

She returns to the Games this summer in the same weight class after earning her spot through the World Taekwondo Olympic ranking, at No. 4.

Since Tokyo, Lee has won a slew of international taekwondo honors, including a silver medal at the 2022 Taekwondo World Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico and a silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last fall.

She’ll be joined by first-time Olympian Kim in the women’s competition, where the 23-year-old will vie for a medal in the -57-kilogram division.

Kim earned her spot in Paris through the Asian qualification tournament in March as one of the two finalists in her weight class. She also won a bronze medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Over in the men’s competition, Park, 20, will represent Korea in the -58-kilogram division, qualifying through the world rankings, at No. 5. He is the youngest member of Korea’s 2024 taekwondo squad at the Olympics but is making his Games debut on the back of some notable victories.

High school student Park Tae-joon wins a gold medal in the men's 58-kilogram division at the Grand Prix in Muju, North Jeolla on June 11, 2022. [WORLD TAEKWONDO FOUNDATION/YONHAP]

He won a gold medal in men’s -54-kilogram at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan — his first time competing at the tournament — and defeated Tokyo bronze-medalist Jang Jun in the Korean national team selection tournament in February.

Seo, also 20 years old but older than Park by six months, will compete in the men’s -80-kilogram division. He became the first Korean to win a gold medal at the Grand Prix in the weight class in December, which sent him into the top five, the cut for the Olympics.

An athlete’s objective in taekwondo is to strike the opponent without being attacked back. Matches take place on an octagonal mat and last three rounds, two minutes each.

Points are awarded based on the difficulty of the strike with head kicks worth more than leg kicks.

Flashier attacks, such as a spinning kick, also win athletes more points.

Penalties, also known as gamjoms, are given out for accidental attacks such as a punch to the face or head-to-head contact. Penalties award the opponent an additional point.

Taekwondo athletes are required to wear a dobok, a white uniform, and protective gear that protects their head, trunk and groin.

Workers apply the final touches to the Grand Palais, the venue that will host fencing and taekwondo at the Paris Olympics. [AP/YONHAP]

Korea has historically dominated taekwondo on the international stage as the sport’s inventors.

But the field has evened out in recent years, with athletes from around the world racking up titles at international competitions.

For instance, at the 2012 London Olympics, athletes from eight separate countries won a gold medal — meaning every weight class saw a different country as its winner.

Taekwondo runs from Aug. 7 to 10, with a men’s competition and a women’s competition on each day. The tournament kicks off with men’s -58-kilogram and women’s -49-kilogram on Aug. 7 at the Grand Palais in Paris.

BY MARY YANG, KEVIN CHUNG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]