SEOUL, Korea (June 9, 2021) - World Taekwondo today hosted its online Referee Training for Tokyo 2020 as it aims to ensure the highest level of officiating at next month’s Olympic Games in Japan.

 

The training course was opened by World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue. The 30 referees (15 male and 15 female) from 30 NOCs who have been selected for Tokyo 2020 attended the training.

 

During the training, presentations were given by the Technical Commission Chair, Inseon Kim on understanding the role of ethics in sport and competition; by the Medical Chair, Dae Hyoung Jeong on COVID-19 protocols and recognizing a medical emergency and medical preparation at Tokyo 2020; by the Referee Chair, Songchul Kim on planning for various scenarios; by the Technical Delegate, Phillippe Bouedo on Olympic job descriptions for officials and the Olympic Competition environment; and finally by the Games Chair, Mohamed Shaaban on watch-outs during Olympic live condition and the procedure for random weigh-in and schedules. There was also a short introduction on the 4D replay system which will be used at an Olympic Games for the first time in Tokyo.

 

Speaking following the training, President Choue said:

 

“At World Taekwondo we pride ourselves on the integrity, quality and consistency of our referees. With the introduction of technological innovations to assist our referees in past years, we have aimed to remove human error from our competitions. But we still rely on referees to make clear and objective judgements which allow our athletes to achieve the results they deserve.

 

“We have an excellent team of referees and just as at Rio 2016, we will once again have an equal number of male and female referees in Tokyo. This is very important to us as we continue to set standards in gender equality and through today’s training, strive to raise the standards of officiating in Taekwondo even higher.”

 

Tomorrow, on 10 June, the IOC will host a workshop on Preventing Manipulation Competition and will be led by Ms. Rida Ahmed, Education and Awareness Raising Coordinator, Ethics and Compliance Office, and Ms. Laura Schoch, Awareness-raising officer, Olympic Movement Unit on the Prevention of Manipulation of Competition. World Taekwondo will be attending the webinar as part of its commitment to following the best practices for integrity in sport.

 

A total of 130 athletes from 61 countries with one Refugee Olympic team will participate in the Tokyo 2020 Taekwondo competition.