Taekwondo included in 2004 Olympics

Taekwondo in the Sydney Olympics

Taekwondo has been declared an official Olympic event for the 2004 Games in Athens.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed on Wednesday that South Korea's native fighting sport was an official Olympic event.

The decision came in a letter from IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch to South Korea's IOC executive board member Kim Un-Yong, Kim's office said.

Samaranch's letter said: "I am pleased to announce that during the recent meeting of the Executive Board held from December 11 to 13 in Lausanne, it has been decided to confirm taekwondo as an Olympic sport.

"The IOC sport director will soon be in contact with you in order to develop the qualification system for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games in this regard."

Monopolising

Taekwondo, the Korean-born sport of kicking and punching, made its Olympic debut this year in Sydney on a temporary basis.

There were worried it would not be included in the 2004 Games after the IOC said no new sports would be added.

The sport was introduced at the 1988 Seoul Games as an exhibition event and again in Barcelona in 1992, helping boost the number of practitioners to an estimated 50 million in about 160 countries.

Eight gold medals were at stake in Sydney.

But the World Taekwondo Federation limited the number of entries per country to two men and two women in a competition fought in four men's and four women's weight divisions.

The limit on entries was aimed at preventing South Korea from monopolising medals and to encourage more international participation.