Taekwondo at the Olympics review

Added: 12/19/2005

A majority of full-contact fighting sports put emphasis on the force and the violence, thus causing knock-outs to occur fairly commonly in those sports. This is just what makes taekwondo at the Olympics rather different; even though it also is a full-contact sport. In Olympic taekwondo knock-outs happen quite rarely. This is the direct consequence of one of the important Olympic taekwondo rules: fighters cannot hit opponent's head or face with fists.

In 1980, the International Olympic Committee admitted taekwondo to be one of the demonstration sports at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. And since 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the sport has been an official event at Olympics. Taekwondo was also recognized as the Asian Games? official event in 1984.

The official Olympic taekwondo rules govern numerous aspects of sparring applicable to taekwondo at the Olympics.
? The dimensions of the competition area are 10m x 10m.
? In taekwondo at the Olympics the contestants must wear head protector, the trunk protector (called hogu), groin guard, shin guards, forearm guards, and a mouthpiece.
? The length of the bout is 3 rounds of 2 minutes each, with a one-minute period for rest between rounds. In case if after the conclusion of the 3rd round there is a tie score, an supplementary 4th two-minute round will be contested as the sudden death round.
? Prohibited and Permitted techniques:
o Fist impacts are only permitted with a hand closed, and merely with the leading hand?s part (no hammer or backhand techniques are allowed).
o Foot hits are only permitted by using the foot? parts lower than the ankle bone (no knee or shin techniques are allowed).
? Permitted areas
o Face: Attacks with feet are only allowed to the head. Attacks to the back of the head are illegal, the same as are all hand shots to the head.
o Trunk: Attacks by foot and fist techniques to the areas under the trunk protector are allowed while attacks to the area of the back that is not covered by the protector are illegal.
? Points are awarded to the contestants if permitted impacts are delivered properly and effectively to the permitted areas of the opponent?s body. In taekwondo at the Olympics scores are awarded by referees for a proper technique in this manner:
o One point for successful attack to the area covered by trunk protector.
o Two points for successful attack on the opponent?s face.
o One extra point if the opponent gets knocked down and the main referee counts.
? Deduction of points. Taekwondo at the Olympics stipulates two types of penalties which might be assigned for illegal acts, the warning penalty called "Kyonggo" and the deduction penalty called "Gamjom". Two "Kyonggos" subtract one point from the contestant?s score with an odd "Kyonggo" counted in the total. "Gamjom" in turn, deducts one complete point. If a competitor has been deducted 4 points, the referee declares him/her loser as a result of penalties.
? In the event is tied after the extra round, the board of judges decide the bout based on the contestants? initiative during the concluding round.
2004 Olympic Taekwondo Winners
Men?s 58 kg: Gold - Chu Mu Yen (TPE), Silver - Oscar Salazar (MEX), Bronze - Tamer Bayoumi (EGY).
Men?s 68 kg: Gold - Hadi Saei Bonehkohal (IRI), Silver - Chih Hsiung Huang (TPE), Bronze - Myeong Seob Song (KOR).
Men?s 80 kg: Gold - Steven Lopez (USA), Silver - Bahri Tanrikulu (TUR), Bronze - Yossef Karami (IRI).
Men's over 80 kg: Gold - Dae Sung Moon (KOR), Silver - Alexandros Nikolaidis (GRE), Bronze - Pascal Gentil (FRA).

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