SEOUL (SW): The 23rd WTF World Taekwondo Championships kicked off for a seven-day run on June 24 in Muju, southwest Korea on Saturday.
The World Taekwondo Championships is the most prestigious event on the global taekwondo calendar after the Olympics Games. However, the seven-day carnival of kicks is a bigger event than the four-day Olympic taekwondo competition. It features a larger number of athletes and nations in attendance, as it boasts twice as many weight categories (16 in total; eight female, eight male) as the Olympics (four female, four male).
Five Afghan athletes including a female is taking part in this championship. Ruhullah Nekpa, the Olympic Bronze Medalist is leading the Afghan squad. Another pride for the country is Abdul Saboor Umari who would serve as certified referee at this championship. The Afghanistan Taekwondo Federation has urged the nation to pray for the team and encourage the players.
The Muju Organizing Committee, or OC, is expecting to welcome some 1,000 athletes from 170 countries. If this number is reached, it will be the largest number of participants in history. In the last world championships, held in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2015, there were 872 athletes from 139 countries.
South Korea, where the sport of taekwondo originated, has hosted the world championships six times. The 1st, 2nd, 7th and 9th editions of the championships were all held in Seoul – in 1973, 1975, 1985 and 1989 respectively. In 2001 the 15thedition was held in Jeju Island, and in 2011, 20th edition was held in Gyeongju.
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