HONG KONG, China (Dec 4, 2024) - The global Taekwondo family marked a hugely successful Olympic and Paralympic year with the World Taekwondo 2024 Gala Awards held on a unique cruise setting in Hong Kong, China.
Departing from Hung Hom Pier, the cruise glided alongside Hong Kong's jaw-dropping skyline to provide an incredible backdrop for the celebration of this year's outstanding achievements of athletes, coaches, referees and Member National Associations (MNAs).
World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue was joined by Secretary General Jeongkang Seo, Council members Kook Hyun Jung, Mohamed Shaaban, Ahmed Hamdan Alzeyoudi, Maher Magableh and Shaddad Al Amri, and Treasurer Pimol Srivikorn for a memorable evening.
Taekwondo Promotion Foundation Chairman Jung-heon Kim and Hong Kong, China Taekwondo Association Chief Honorary Life President Dato Sri Dr. Carl Men Ky Ching and President Louis Man Chun Ching were also among the distinguished guests.
President Choue began the evening with his reflections on the last year, which had among its highlights the gripping Taekwondo competitions staged at the magnificent Grand Palais during the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Paris 2024.
World Taekwondo first launched its Gala Awards in Querétaro, Mexico in December 2014, and since then it has become a landmark event honouring the best in the sport on and off the field of play.
This year’s awardees were selected based on their spectacular performances and results at Paris 2024, as recommended by the World Taekwondo Technical Commission.
The Female Athlete of the Year award was won by Hungary’s Viviana Márton, who remarkably won the -67kg gold medal on her Olympic debut in Paris aged just 18.
Uzbekistan’s Ulugbek Rashitov took the Male Athlete of the Year award, having joined an elite group of competitors to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals with his -68kg victory at Paris 2024.
Female Para Taekwondo Athlete of the Year Leonor Angélica Espinoza Carranza of Peru also won her second Paralympic gold medal with her triumph in the K44 -47kg category.
Imamaddin Khalilov of Azerbaijan capped off a successful 2024 by being crowned Paralympic champion in the K44 -70kg in Paris, and earned the Male Para Taekwondo Athlete of the Year award.
Men’s -58kg Olympic champion Taejoon Park of Korea was the other athlete honoured at the Gala Awards, winning the Kick of the Year.
Tunisian head coach Yesbul Sultanov was presented with the Coach of the Year award, while Great Britain’s Andrew Deer was named Para Taekwondo Coach of the Year.
This year featured a restructuring of the referee awards, as recommended by the World Taekwondo Technical Commission. An Olympic Referee and Paralympic Referee of the Year award will now be granted exclusively in Olympic and Paralympic years, instead of the Male and Female Referee of the Year awards.
Egypt’s May Mohamed Aly El Sayed was named the first winner of the Olympic Referee of the Year award, and Spain’s Paula Remirez Ruiz as the inaugural Paralympic Referee of the Year.
The MNA of the Year award was presented to USA Taekwondo, based on the rankings of the latest MNA Survey.
Two awards will also be presented at a later date. The Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 will receive the Outstanding Contributions Award, while the 2nd Taekwondo Humanitarian Trophy will be presented to Taishan Sports Group founder Bian Zhiliang for its generous donation of artificial turf to the Azraq Refugee Camp and the transformation of the artificial turf at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan.
It has been an incredible year of Taekwondo, and the World Taekwondo 2024 Gala Awards provided a fitting way to celebrate.
