Taekwondo at the 1988 Summer Olympics Taekwondo at the 1988 Summer Olympics Taekwondo was a demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. It was the first time that the sport was included in the Olympic program; it would become an official sport twelve years later at the 2000 Games. A total of 120 men and 62 women from 35 different nations competed in eight different weight classes. Each event featured a single-elimination tournament to determine the winner. Competition was held at the Changchung Gymnasium from September 17 to 20. Fighters from the host nation of South Korea won nine of the sixteen events. Team
Taekwondo (where competitors perform prescribed board breaks at great heights). Some organizations deliver multi-discipline competitions, for example the British Student Taekwondo Federation's inter-university competitions, which have included separate WT rules sparring, ITF rules sparring, Kukkiwon patterns and Chang-Hon patterns events run in parallel since 1992. American Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) competitions are very similar, except that different styles of pads and gear are allowed. Apart from WT and ITF tournaments, major taekwondo competitions (all featuring WT taekwondo only) include: Taekwondo is also an optional sport at the Commonwealth Games. In taekwondo schools - even outside Korea - Korean language commands and