Electronic Protectors to be Used at 2009 World Taekwondo Championships
Electronic protectors will be used at the 2009 WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 14-18 2009, for the first time in the history of the Championships, the World Taekwondo Federation announced on June 29, 2009.
When used in conjunction with the newly adopted instant video replay system, electronic protectors will ensure fairer and more transparent judging and refereeing. Under the leadership of WTF President Chungwon Choue, the WTF has committed to further enhancing transparency at taekwondo competitions, as well as increasing the dynamism and excitement of the sport.
WTF President Choue said, “We highly respect the Olympic spirit of fair play, and joined the IOC’s efforts to ensure fairness in Olympic sport. The reforms we have carried out in line with the IOC’s principles are a major step on the road to a more visible and fair scoring system which will raise the standards of our sport. We now have more hope and confidence that our sport is moving closer to the IOC ideal.”
WTF Secretary General Jin Suk Yang added, “The WTF has a responsibility to develop and improve the sport of taekwondo and these measures will help minimize human errors. However, we believe there is still room for improvement.”
In 2005, an ad-hoc committee was established at the WTF to evaluate the electronic protectors. Since late 2008, the committee has been chaired by Mr. Ivan Dibos, an IOC member and WTF Council member.
Following a series of laboratory and field tests and evaluations, the LaJUST Electronic Body Protector (EBP) was recognized by the WTF in September 2006. So far, LaJUST is the only WTF-recognized electronic protector manufacturer. It was successfully used at the 2009 WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships and the 1st WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 10-14, 2009.
A survey was conducted among taekwondo athletes, coaches, referees and officials regarding their experiences with the Baku championships. Their positive evaluation led the committee to recommend that electronic protectors be adopted for the upcoming Championships in Copenhagen.
WTF President Choue said that the future use of electronic protectors at major competitions is subject to further improvements, including correction of shortcomings noted by the ad-hoc committee. The WTF’s policy is to work with any company whose electronic protectors meet the WTF criteria.
“As we saw in Baku, the use of electronic protectors and an instant video replay system work in synergy to make taekwondo competitions fairer and more transparent and significantly reduce controversy about referee decisions,” he said. “I am confident that the most practical way to improve the equipment is to keep using them to have a framework for improvement through trial and error.”
The decision provides further evidence of the creation of a new image for taekwondo as the sport looks forward to increasing its global profile in the build-up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Background information
Electronic protectors are designed to increase the efficiency of the points scoring system which had previously been subject to human error. They transmit scores to electronic scoreboards by registering the impact on the protective equipment worn on the athlete’s trunk. In addition, an instant video replay system allows for the immediate correction of referee decisions in the case of disputes.
World Taekwondo Federation
The WTF has a global membership of 189 countries and is striving to increase this to more than 200. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, a total of 128 taekwondo athletes from 64 countries competed for 32 medals, of which athletes from 22 countries won at least one medal, thus demonstrating the universality of the sport.
For further information/images, please contact:
Jean-Marie Ayer
WTF Office
Maison du Sport International
Avenue de Rhodanie 54
CH-1007 Lausanne
Switzerland
Tel: +41 21 601 50 13
Mobile: +41 79 222 93 18
Fax: +41 21 601 59 83
Email: wtf-lausanne@bluewin.ch
When used in conjunction with the newly adopted instant video replay system, electronic protectors will ensure fairer and more transparent judging and refereeing. Under the leadership of WTF President Chungwon Choue, the WTF has committed to further enhancing transparency at taekwondo competitions, as well as increasing the dynamism and excitement of the sport.
WTF President Choue said, “We highly respect the Olympic spirit of fair play, and joined the IOC’s efforts to ensure fairness in Olympic sport. The reforms we have carried out in line with the IOC’s principles are a major step on the road to a more visible and fair scoring system which will raise the standards of our sport. We now have more hope and confidence that our sport is moving closer to the IOC ideal.”
WTF Secretary General Jin Suk Yang added, “The WTF has a responsibility to develop and improve the sport of taekwondo and these measures will help minimize human errors. However, we believe there is still room for improvement.”
In 2005, an ad-hoc committee was established at the WTF to evaluate the electronic protectors. Since late 2008, the committee has been chaired by Mr. Ivan Dibos, an IOC member and WTF Council member.
Following a series of laboratory and field tests and evaluations, the LaJUST Electronic Body Protector (EBP) was recognized by the WTF in September 2006. So far, LaJUST is the only WTF-recognized electronic protector manufacturer. It was successfully used at the 2009 WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships and the 1st WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 10-14, 2009.
A survey was conducted among taekwondo athletes, coaches, referees and officials regarding their experiences with the Baku championships. Their positive evaluation led the committee to recommend that electronic protectors be adopted for the upcoming Championships in Copenhagen.
WTF President Choue said that the future use of electronic protectors at major competitions is subject to further improvements, including correction of shortcomings noted by the ad-hoc committee. The WTF’s policy is to work with any company whose electronic protectors meet the WTF criteria.
“As we saw in Baku, the use of electronic protectors and an instant video replay system work in synergy to make taekwondo competitions fairer and more transparent and significantly reduce controversy about referee decisions,” he said. “I am confident that the most practical way to improve the equipment is to keep using them to have a framework for improvement through trial and error.”
The decision provides further evidence of the creation of a new image for taekwondo as the sport looks forward to increasing its global profile in the build-up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Background information
Electronic protectors are designed to increase the efficiency of the points scoring system which had previously been subject to human error. They transmit scores to electronic scoreboards by registering the impact on the protective equipment worn on the athlete’s trunk. In addition, an instant video replay system allows for the immediate correction of referee decisions in the case of disputes.
World Taekwondo Federation
The WTF has a global membership of 189 countries and is striving to increase this to more than 200. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, a total of 128 taekwondo athletes from 64 countries competed for 32 medals, of which athletes from 22 countries won at least one medal, thus demonstrating the universality of the sport.
For further information/images, please contact:
Jean-Marie Ayer
WTF Office
Maison du Sport International
Avenue de Rhodanie 54
CH-1007 Lausanne
Switzerland
Tel: +41 21 601 50 13
Mobile: +41 79 222 93 18
Fax: +41 21 601 59 83
Email: wtf-lausanne@bluewin.ch