[Taekwondo in Baku] The 50th Anniversary of World Taekwondo… Holding a Grand Celebration in Baku, Azerbaijan

The World Taekwondo(President Chungwon Choue, WT) celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding with an outstanding 'Golden Jubilee Gala Dinner(here-in-after, referred to as Gala Dinner)' which honoured some of the Member National Associations(here-in-after, referred to as MNAs) and athletes who have played an integral role in the sport's success over the last 50 years in Baku, Azerbaijan at 27th May 2023. 

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The Gala Dinner was held in the iconic Heydar Aliyev Centre with around 450 guests in attendance including World Taekwondo Council members, MNAs and referees as well as VIP guests that were ▲IOC Vice President Ser Miang NG ▲Mr. Farid Gayibov ▲Minister of Youth and Sports in Azerbaijan. The event was held on the eve of the 50th anniversary to coincide with the founding anniversary of Azerbaijan. 

ﾠThe Seventeen MNAs - △South Korea △Austria △Brunei Darussalam △Cambodia △Chinese Taipei △Colombia △Cote D'Ivoire △Germany △Guatemala △Hong Kong △Japan △Malaysia △Mexico △Philippines △Singapore △Uganda △USA - that attended the inaugural 'World Taekwondo General Assembly' on 28th May 1973, were presented with special awards. A commemorative video of the 50th anniversary was also played for the attending guests.

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Awards were presented to two outstanding male and female athletes from each Olympic Games Taekwondo has featured in, starting from up to most recently where Taekwondo also featured in the Paralympic Games for the first time. The athletes were selected by an ad-hoc nomination committee based on the following criteria. 

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●Priority given to Olympic multi-champions (e.g. 2-time gold medalists)

●Medalists from regions without a Taekwondo Olympic gold medal

●Superior Taekwondo skills and competitiveness

●Regional representation.

ﾠThe awarded athletes are: ▲ △Michail Mouroutsos(Greece) Male –58kg △Jung Jae-Eun(Republic of Korea) Female –57kg ▲ △Chu Mu-yen(Chinese Taipei) Male –58kg △Chen Zhong(People's Republic of China) Female +67kg ▲ △Hadi Saei(Iran) Male –80kg △Wu Jingyu(People's Republic of China) Female –49kg ▲ △Servet Tazegul(Türkiye) Male –68kg △Hwang Kyung-seon(Republic of Korea) Female –67kg ▲ △Cheick Sallah Cisse(Cote d'Ivoire) Male –80kg △Jade Jones(Great Britain) Female –57kg ▲ △Ulugbek Rashitov(Uzbekistan) Male –68kg △Milica Mandic(Serbia) Female +67kg ▲ △Nathan Torquato(Brazil) Male –61kg △Lisa Gjessing(Denmark) Female -58kg

The evening ended with a spectacular drone show which lit up the skies of Baku to bring a night of celebration to a close. 

[Mookas Media = Baku, Azerbaijan - Seok-Mu Mason Kwon ㅣ sukmooi@naver.com]
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