The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) has announced that it will promote beach taekwondo, which was introduced at the 2023 Gangwon-Chuncheon World Taekwondo Culture Festival, as an official sport at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

WTF President Choi Joong-won said, “We plan to further promote beach taekwondo and virtual taekwondo. We will work closely with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ensure that beach taekwondo is added to the 2028 Olympic Games,” said WTF President Joong Won Choi, revealing the results of the Executive Board’s discussions in Chuncheon on April 19.

The World Taekwondo Beach Championships kicked off in Chuncheon on Nov. 18, with athletes competing in casual attire and receiving a great response from spectators at the Taekwondo Culture Festival.

While beach taekwondo has the same rules as traditional taekwondo, it is held outdoors and allows competitors to dress more casually.

Men can go topless or sleeveless, while women can wear tank tops, sleeveless, or shirts. Makeup, hijabs, and even sports sunglasses are allowed.

The competition lasts between 90 and 100 seconds and is divided into technical (6.0 points) and choreography (4.0 points). Technical skills are judged on poomsae (1 point) and five mandatory technical kicks (5 points), including jumping side kicks, jumping front kicks, spinning kicks, continuous kicks, and acrobatics. Choreography is scored on creativity and harmony, expression of chi, music and composition.

Meanwhile, the WTF and the Gangwon-Chuncheon World Taekwondo Cultural Festival Organizing Committee held the World Taekwondo Beach Championships for the first time in four years at Songam Sports Town in Chuncheon on April 18.

Beach taekwondo, which began in 2017 on the Greek island of Rhodes, was held in the same location the following year and then in 2019 in the Egyptian resort city of Hurghada for three consecutive years. It resumed this year after a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 토토사이트