NANJING, China (Aug. 15, 2014) - The taekwondo competition at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games kicks off on Aug. 17, 2014 for a five-day run in Nanjing, China.
The taekwondo matches will take place at the Hall D of the Nanjing International Expo Center, attracting a total of 100 young athletes from 59 countries. Twenty international referees, 10 males and 10 females, will officiate at the taekwondo competitions.
Of the 100 athletes, born between Jan. 1, 1997 and Dec. 31, 1998, a total of 77 athletes, 39 males and 38 females, earned the tickets to the taekwondo competition through the World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games.
Host China automatically received a quota place of three male and three female weight categories of its choice, but it decided to field one male (+73kg) and three female (-49kg, -63kg, +63kg) athletes.
A total of 19 athletes, 10 males and nine females, received the Youth Olympic Games taekwondo berths through the NOC universality places, better known as "wild cards," after tripartite negotiations among the International Olympic Committee, the NOCs and the World Taekwondo Federation. A maximum quota per NOC is three male and three female athletes.
The five-day taekwondo competitions will feature five male and five female weight divisions, and two weight-category matches will take place every day. The competition schedule is as follows: the female -44kg and the male -48kg on Aug. 17, the female -49kg and the male -55kg on Aug. 18, the female -55kg and the male -63kg on Aug. 19, the female -63kg and the male -73kg on Aug. 20, and the female +63kg and the male +73kg on Aug. 21.
Athletes will compete for top honors on one octagon-shaped competition mat. A Daedo protector and scoring system (PSS) and an instant video replay will be used for fair and transparent judging. The taekwondo competition of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games will be held in accordance with the latest WTF Competition Rules, which went into force in March this year.
A head of team meeting for the taekwondo competition was held on Aug. 15. The opening ceremony of the 2014 Youth Olympic Games is scheduled to take place at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center Stadium at 8 p.m. on Aug. 16.
As part of the IOC-organized Culture and Education Programs (CEP), free taekwondo training sessions will be offered for the visitors and spectators, with its opening ceremony scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. on Aug. 17 at the Wanda Plaza.
