SEOUL, Korea (Oct 10, 2023) - World Taekwondo joined the global community in recognising World Mental Health Day on October 10th, with the launch of a survey aimed at assessing Taekwondo’s impact on the mental health of elite Taekwondo athletes globally.
The creation and implementation of a mental health strategy is one of the objectives listed in the World Taekwondo Sustainability Strategy launched in February 2023. The mental health survey, available on this link, targets currently active Taekwondo athletes aged 21 years old and above who have competed in at least one G-grade event over the past two years (e.g., World Championships, Grand Prix Series, and WT-recognised events in 2022 and 2023).
“Mental health is often overlooked and sadly, there may be athletes who have suffered in silence,” said World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue. “This mental health survey is a first step to understand our athletes better, and through it, I hope that we can develop pathways and tools to help them and make Taekwondo a safer sport.”
The survey is based on the International Olympic Committee Sport Mental Health Assessment Tool 1 (SMHAT-1), and was redesigned by the World Taekwondo Sustainability Committee together with the Medical Committee. The survey is yet another milestone since World Taekwondo made its Hammamet Declaration in April 2018 to make Taekwondo a safer sport for athletes.
