The Russian city of Chelyabinsk is ready for the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships, which are scheduled for May 12-18, 2015.
A total of 875 athletes from 136 countries have submitted their entry forms for the biennial championships, which is the 22nd edition of its kind for men and 15th for women.
The seven-day event, which will take place at the Traktor Arena in Chelyabinsk, will feature eight male and eight female weight categories.
Among athletes to watch at the championships will be 2012 London Olympic gold medalists - Jade Jones of Great Britain, Milica Mandic of Serbia, and Servet Tazegul of Turkey. Also competing in the championships are Korea's Dae-hoon Lee, the gold medalist at both the 2011 and 2013 World Championship; the five-time world champion Steven Lopez of the United States; Moldova's Aaron Cook; and Gabon's Anthony Obame, the gold medal winner at the 2013 Puebla World Championships.
"We are ready for the championships and everything goes well smoothly as scheduled. We will show the world the best championships ever," said Boris Dubrovskiy, chairman of the Organizing Committee for the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships.
A total of 100 international referees, including 29 females, will officiate at the Grade-12 championships. The gold medalists will receive 120 ranking points, while the silver medalists will earn 72 ranking points. The bronze medal winners will gain 43.2 ranking points.
A Daedo protector and scoring system (PSS) will be used at the Championships. Electronic PSS head protectors will be used at the Chelyabinsk championships for the first time in the history of the World Championships. To ensure fair judging, an instant video replay system will be also introduced.
Also Octagon-shaped mats will be used for the first time in the history of the World Championships.
For every weight division, a half of the athletes, regardless of the number of athletes, will be seeded based on the World Ranking as of May 1, 2015. Athletes from the host country of Russia will be seeded at the 4th place, if he or she is not seeded within the 4th place.
Based on the point system, the top five teams of the men's and women's divisions will receive trophies.
The head of team meeting and the drawing of lots session will take place on May 10, two days prior to the start of the championships.
The opening ceremony of the championships, which is schedule to take place at 6 p.m. on May 12 at the venue, will feature a 20-minute taekwondo demonstration each by the WTF and the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF).
Together with the ITF taekwondo demonstration team, ITF President Ung Chang was officially invited to the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships, drawing special interest among the international media and global taekwondo families.
"Through the taekwondo demonstrations at the opening ceremony, we will show the world that the roots of taekwondo is one," said WTF President Chungwon Choue.
On the occasion of the World Championships, a WTF Council meeting will take place at 10 a.m. on May 10 and the WTF General Assembly at 2 p.m. on May 11.
The 5th International Symposium on Taekwondo Studies will open at 1 p.m. on May 9 for a two-day run at the South Ural State University.
