Taekwondo was a sport at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and featured 128 taekwondo fighters competing in eight weight categories; four for men, and four for women.[1] The 2020 Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
Taekwondo competition[3] at these Games featured a total of 128 athletes, 64 males and 64 females, and 16 in each of the eight weight categories. Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was allowed to enter up to one competitor per event, resulting in a maximum of eight competitors, four of each gender. In each weight class, five quota spots were available through World Taekwondo (WT) Olympic rankings, one quota spot was available through the WT Grand Slam Champions Series, nine quota spots were available through continental qualification events (two per continent, except Oceania with one), and quota spot was available either to the host (four classes chosen by the host, two per gender) or as a Tripartite Commission invitation (the remaining four classes).[4]
If an NOC had qualified at least two female or male athletes through ranking, it could not participate in the respective Continental Qualification Tournament unless it relinquished the places obtained through ranking. This included the host, Japan, with its automatic qualification of two women and two men.[4]
The 2020 Summer Olympics marked the first time that South Korea, which usually dominated the sport at the Olympics, had not won an Olympic gold medal in Taekwondo since the sport debuted in the 2000 Olympics.[7]
.jpg)
