The World Taekwondo Council has awarded the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships to Cancun and the 2023 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships to Sarajevo.
On Friday during a council meeting, which focused on restarting the events, bids were considered from Baku, Beirut, and Cancun for the World Championships with representatives from each of the three cities delivering presentations during the meeting.
Following the presentation an electronic vote was held and Cancun was awarded the Championships with 52% of the vote.
In replacing Wuxi as the host, World Taekwondo President, Chungwon Choue, commented: “Both cities presented very strong bids and we have no doubt they will deliver wonderful competitions. Mexico has a proud history in hosting excellent World Taekwondo events including World Championships and Grand Prixes and we are sure Cancun will build on this heritage.”
Wuxi representatives stated that the city withdrew from hosting the event this year due to the ongoing pandemic and to protect the health and wellbeing of all athletes, officials and organisers.
“For Bosnia and Herzegovina, it will be the first time they have hosted a World Taekwondo event and we believe this will act as a catalyst for the further growth of the sport in the country,” Choue added. “Today’s meeting showed how much interest there is in hosting World Taekwondo events and we are committed to restarting our competitions this year in a safe and successful manner.”
Furthermore, on 21-24 April, it has been reported that the organisation will also host the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Goyang, Korea.
During the pandemic over the last two years, World Taekwondo has hosted the online Poomsae challenge series in a bid for athletes all over the world to further engage in the sport.
Moreover, in a further push for engagement, Choue also revealed that the World Taekwondo Children’s Championships will be launched, as the council passed amendments to the competition rules for more ‘dynamic and exciting’ competitions.