South Korea is to host the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships for its traditional martial art next week; the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships will be held in Gyeongju from May 1-6. There are 192 nations joined in the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and according to the Seoul-based WTF, 1,040 athletes and 715 officials from 149 member countries have registered for the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships as of Wednesday.
South Korea is to send 16 Taekwondo athletes, eight athletes each for men and women.
Kim Se Hyuk, the head coach of the national team said, “Our goal is to win seven gold medals this year. Every athlete has trained hard. We haven‘t done that well in recent competitions but since this year’s championships will be held on our soil, we will try to accomplish our objective.”
One of the eight women athletes, Hwang Kyung-seon, is the only South Korean with a No. 1 ranking in the WTF and the spotlight is on her this year as the championships will be held in her motherland as well as where Taekwondo is originated from.
She is aiming to achieve her third world title in the 67-kilogram, after winning it in 2005 and 2007. She is also a gold medalist from 2008 Olympics.
South Korea has won149 gold medals since its first championships in 1973.
(아주경제 이수지 기자)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com