Official Publication of World Taekwondo 2018 ISSUE NO. 105 ‘Peace is More Precious than Triumph’ 50 EUROPE Albania Italy 52 Andorra Kosovo Armenia Latvia Austria Lithuania AFRICA Azerbaijan Luxembourg Belarus Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Algeria Madagascar Belgium Malta Angola Malawi Bosnia & Herzegovina Moldova Benin Mali Bulgaria Monaco Botswana Mauritania Croatia Montenegro Burkina Faso Mauritius Cyprus The Netherlands Burundi Morocco Czech Republic Norway Cameroon Mozambique Denmark Poland Cape Verde Niger Estonia Portugal 43 Central African Republic Nigeria Finland Romania Comoros Rwanda France Russia Cote d’Ivoire Sao Tome & Principe ASIA Georgia San Marino Congo Senegal Germany Serbia Djibouti Seychelles Afghanistan Malaysia Great Britain Slovakia D.R. of the Congo Sierra Leone Bahrain Mongolia Greece Slovenia Egypt Somalia Bangladesh Myanmar Hungary Spain Equatorial Guinea South Africa Bhutan Nepal Iceland Sweden Ethiopia Sudan Brunei Oman Ireland Switzerland Gabon South Sudan Cambodia Pakistan Isle of Man Turkey Gambia Swaziland China Palestine Israel Ukraine Ghana Chad Chinese Taipei Philippines Guinea Tanzania Hong Kong Qatar Guinea-Bissau Togo India Saudi Arabia +1 Kenya Tunisia Indonesia Singapore World Taekwondo has 209+1 Lesotho Uganda Iran Sri Lanka Liberia Zimbabwe Iraq Syria 209 Japan Tajikistan Member National Associations worldwide. Libya Zambia Jordan Thailand The “+1” stands for refugees Kazakhstan Timor-Leste Korea Turkmenistan Kuwait United Arab Emirates Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Laos Vietnam Lebanon Yemen 45 50 Macao PAN AMERICA Antigua & Barbuda Guadeloupe Argentina Guatemala Aruba Guyana 43 Bahamas Haiti Barbados Honduras Belize Jamaica 19 Bermuda Martinique Bolivia Mexico OCEANIA Brazil Curacao British Virgin Islands Nicaragua American Samoa New Caledonia Canada Panama Australia New Zealand Cayman Islands Paraguay Cook Islands Palau Chile Peru Fiji Papua New Guinea Colombia Puerto Rico French Polynesia Samoa Costa Rica St. Lucia Guam Solomon Islands Dominican Republic St. Kitts & Nevis Kiribati Tonga Cuba Surinam Marshall Islands Tuvalu Dominica St. Vincent & the Grenadines Micronesia Vanuatu Ecuador Trinidad and Tobago 52 Nauru El Salvador Uruguay French Guiana U.S.A. Grenada Virgin Islands Venezuela 45 19 President’s Dear World Taekwondo Family and Friends: 2017 was another wonderful year for taekwondo – and a busy one! Let’s look back on some great moments, then look forward to 2018. Message 2017 started with rule changes. These got their first road test at the World Championships in Muju, Korea, in June, and were well received. In Muju, we also re-branded, from “World Taekwondo Federation” to “World Taekwondo.” The new brand makes a powerful statement, raising our prestige to the maximum. Muju was our biggest world championships ever. Special visitors included Korean President Jae-in Moon, IOC President Thomas Bach, and the International Taekwondo Federation. The World Para Taekwondo Championships in London, Great Britain, showed that our para athletes have all the skill, athleticism and determination we expect from taekwondo’s elite. Our Grand Prix Series continues to raise standards. It was gratifying in 2017 to take the series to Rabat and Abidjan, given the rising power of African taekwondo. We also pioneered the Grand Slam Champions Series, in Wuxi, China. This made- for-TV, super-elite, invitational series offers Hollywood-style production values and 2018 will be our the richest prize money in our sport’s history. This is taekwondo’s new benchmark for production values. ‘Year of Youth.’ Our first-ever World Beach Championships took place in, Rhodes, Greece. This takes taekwondo out of the venue into the sunshine, while offering our poomsae I look forward athletes a new competition format and a cool, individualized new look. Our humanitarian efforts continue. Following our taekwondo academy for to meeting Syrian refugees in Jordan, we added a second academy for Congolese refugees in Rwanda in 2017. I was also appointed to the Olympic Refuge Foundation, where I will join the IOC President and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. the talent our Looking ahead, in 2018, we add a fifth-edition to our four-edition Grand Prix Series, in Rome, Italy. This, and the Grand Slam, demonstrates WT’s commitment pipeline is to increasing opportunities for our athletes in terms of elite competition, media exposure and prize money. producing” 2018 will be our “Year of Youth.” Our Junior Championships take place in Hammamet, Tunisia, in April, then we have the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October. I look forward to meeting the talent our pipeline is producing. Special thanks to our executives, our referees, our coaches and our wonderful athletes. You make us proud! Yours in taekwondo – Chungwon Choue President, World Taekwondo Part. 2 Part. 3 CHAMPIONSHIPS AROUND WT Official Publication of World Taekwondo 28 2017 World Taekwondo Championships: Biggest, Best Ever 186 Gala Awards: 2017’s Elite 62 Thomas Bach Comes to Town: IOC President in Muju 196 WT General Assembly: WT President Re-Elected in Muju 2018 66 New Rules, New Game 200 Extraordinary Council Meeting 68 Alexander Bachmann: Love & Gold 201 WT Head Lays Wreath at Las Vegas Shooting Site ISSUE NO. 72 Tae-Hun Kim: 3-Time World Champion 202 Rebrand: From WTF to WT: 105 Wields a Bespoke Stealth Kick Global Presence, Global Power, Global Prestige 76 Vanja Stankovic: Journey of Self Belief 204 We’re in! Taekwondo at Paris 2024 80 Nur Tatar: Korea Delivers World Championship Title - and Husband 207 Taking Taekwondo to Youth 84 Taekwondo Becomes Compulsory Sport at Universiade in Taipei 2017 209 Pope Receives Taekwondo Honor 86 Russia Comes out Top at Record-Breaking 210 UN High Commissioner for Refugees Awarded Table of Contents 7th World Para Taekwondo Championships Taekwondo Black Belt 90 Amy Truesdale: British Girl Proves Unstoppable in London 211 Uzbek President Awarded Honorary Taekwondo Black Belt 92 Grand Prix Series 1: Rocking Russia 212 Taekwondo Heats Up 2018 Winter 100 Ruth Gbagbi: Dramatic Rise ‘Peace Olympics’ in PyeongChang 3 Global Membership 104 Anton Kotkov: Success Starts in the Mind 219 Tonga’s 2016 Taekwondo Hero Takes on Skiing Challenge in 2018 4 President’s Message 108 Grand Prix Series 2: Going Loco in Morocco 220 First-Ever Taekwondo Medical Conference Lays Solid Groundwork for Future 111 WT Executives Talk up African Taekwondo 222 IOC President Awards WT Diploma for its Gender Equality Efforts Part. 1 116 Mahama Cho: Nice Guy with a Hit List 223 Guinea-Bissau Becomes World Taekwondo’s 120 Grand Prix Series 3: Battle of Britain SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 209th Member National Association 128 Kyo-Don In: Fighting Back 224 Songchul Kim: A Sharp Eye, a Strong Hand and Sound Judgment 11 Teakwondo Debuts at Kiziba Camp, Rwanda 132 Lauren Williams: Ferocious in the Fight, Quiet in the Spotlight 226 Mohamed Shaaban: Excellence and Execution 13 Taekwondo Cares in Rwanda School 136 Grand Prix Final: Action in Abidjan Taekwondo’s Top Priorities 14 WT, THF to Support Taekwondo Programs for 145 Bianca Walkden: Simply Unbeatable 228 Phillippe Bouedo: Taking Taekwondo into the Big League Refugees in Djibouti 148 Cheick Sallah Cisse: Devil Fighter 230 Dr. Dae Hyoun Jeong: Ultrasound Scanning, 16 Localization Means Sustainability: Injury Data Collection Central to New WT Medical Moves Meet Coach Asif Sabah of THF Azraq Academy 152 Da-Bin Lee: Walking on the Moon 232 Chakir Chelbat: We will Rock Para Sport 18 Syrian Refugee Earns Black Belt in Refugee Camp 154 Team Championships Light Up Abidjan 234 Nadin Dewani / Pascal Gentil: Athletes Get Own Committee 19 Crown Prince of Fujairah Donates USD100,000 for 160 2017 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships Taekwondo Programs to Empower Refugees 164 1st World Taekwondo Beach Championships: 235 PSS Donation Ceremony Takes Place at Olympic Museum 20 World Taekwondo President Attends Inaugural Sun, Sea, Sand and Taekwondo 236 CU Presidents’ Messages Board Meeting of Olympic Refuge Foundation 168 WT Grand Slam: WT Sets up ‘Stage for Superstars’ 238 Un Yong Kim, Founding President of World Taekwondo, 22 Taekwondo Helps UN Celebrate International 170 Grand Slam Press Conference Passes Away Day of Sport for Development and Peace 180 WT World Cup Team Championships: 239 Masthead 24 Thomas Bach Attends THF Board Meeting in Muju Hosts China Win 2 Golds, Iran Wins 1 at World Cup 240 Event Calendar 2018 PART.1 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Kiziba Refugee Camp Taekwondo Debuts at Kiziba Camp, Rwanda Following our program in Jordan, the THF’s latest initiative to ‘empower the powerless’ is now underway in Rwanda ontinuing its sustained efforts to bring the benefits of tae- kwondo to refugees and displaced persons, the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) started a new pilot project in Rwanda, with a first visit to Kiziba Refugee Camp, a camp Cestablished in 1996 and located about 15 kilometers outside Kibuye town in Karongi district, in the western province of Rwanda. The THF’s local operating partner, the Rwanda Taekwondo Federation (RTF), visited Kiziba camp and organized a demonstration event and workshop attended by hundreds of camp residents. Kiziba is the oldest refugee camp in Rwanda, and is home to more than 17,000 refugees, primarily from the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Seventy-seven percent of the refugee popu- lation living in Kiziba are women and children, and the camp hosts the largest population of protracted refugees in Rwanda. Under the guidance