Taekwondo

History of Taekwondo

WTF — World Taekwon-do Federation World Taekwon-do Federation On May 28, 1973, at a meeting of the Kukkiwon — World Taekwon-do Federation and representatives from 35 countries, the organization “World Taekwondo Federation” was created.

World Taekwondo Federation WTF is the International Federation [IF] governing Taekwondo competitions, and also a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations [ASOIF]. The World Taekwondo Federation WTF is formally recognized by the National Olympic Committee (NOC) in the respective country as an international association for taekwondo (each country has one organization recognized as a member of the association.)

From the very beginning, it developed as an organization pursuing the goal of including taekwondo in the Olympic Games program, which it succeeded in doing at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul as a demonstration sport, and, starting with the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, as a competitive sport. And to this day it is included in the Olympic sports.

At the moment, WTF Taekwondo has 206 member countries of WTF. 5 continental Federations have been created.

Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU) 43 countries
European Taekwondo Union (ETU) 50 countries
Pan American Taekwondo Union (PATU) 44 countries
African Taekwondo Union (AFTU) 50 countries
Oceania Taekwondo Union (OTU) 19 countries

Stages of formation:

Affiliation with GAISF (GENERAL ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS) on October 8, 1975.

Recognition by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) – July 17, 1980 [the eighty-third IOC session in Moscow].

Demonstration sport at the Olympic Games – at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Official sport in the Olympic Games programme – Olympic Games Sydney 2000 – 4 September 1994 [103rd IOC Session in Paris].

Confirmation of Taekwondo as an official sport at the Olympic Games Athens 2004 – 11~13 December 2000 [IOC Board of Directors meeting in Lausanne].

Expansion of Taekwondo quota at the Olympic Games Athens 2004 to 124 in eight weight categories corresponding to four weight classes for men and women – 18-20 September 2001 [IOC Board of Directors meeting in Lausanne].

The IOC Executive Board determined the number of sports for the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 – 27 sports, including Taekwondo. At the 114th IOC session held in Mexico City, Mexico on November 29, 2002, Taekwondo was also confirmed as a sport for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The IOC at its 117th session in Singapore on July 8, 2005 reviewed the program of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Taekwondo gained votes and retained its Olympic registration, giving the right to be represented in the program of the London 2012 Olympics.

Taekwondo in Belarus

The martial art of taekwondo began to spread in Belarus in the late eighties of the last century, and its appearance is associated with the name of Alexander Botkin, a talented self-taught athlete who is the founder of the club and the Belarusian Taekwondo Federation. Botkin was also involved in training the first masters who reached the international level. Since then, Belarusian taekwondo athletes have consistently won prizes at international competitions.

The most famous taekwondo masters and champions in Belarus are M. Saidov, L. Zhmako, Yu. Sukhavitskaya, I. Romashkevich, A. Chernyavskaya, and A. Likhodievsky, who led the national team from 2000 to 2007. After him, S. Smychkov was at the helm of the Belarusian taekwondo team (from 2007 to 2008). From 2008 to 2010, the national taekwondo team was led by S. Shelyuta, and from 2011 to the present day, the head coach of the Belarusian taekwondo team is D. Shkalov.

Public association: “Belarusian Taekwondo Federation”
Address: 220012, Minsk, st. Surganova 2
Phone: +375 (17) 280-02-63
Fax: +375 (17) 280-02-63

Minsk city branch of the public association “Belarusian Taekwondo Federation”
Address: 220074, Minsk, Beruta st., 11, off. 10
Phone: +375 (17) 397-70-19

Specialized educational and sports institutions developing taekwondo in Minsk:

Institution “City Center of Olympic Reserve of Martial Arts”
Address: Minsk, Pervomayskaya St., 12
Tel.: +375 (17) 327-38-93

Institution “MCSDUSHOR of Trade Unions “Spartak”
Address: Minsk, Beruta St., 11
Tel.: +375 (17) 395-60-80

Institution “DYUSSh PPO UP “Minskmetrostroy”
Address: Minsk, Solomennaya St., 13
Tel.: +375 (17) 285-32-16

Institution “Minsk SDYUSHOR No. 2 BFSO “Dynamo”
Address: Minsk, Daumana St., 23
Tel.: +375 (17) 334-58-04