Taekwondo returns for the 2024 Paris Games. Read on the learn about how athletes from the United States and all other countries qualified for the Olympic tournaments.
How many taekwondo athletes will qualify for the 2024 Olympics?
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A total of 128 athletes (64 men, 64 women) will compete in taekwondo. There are eight different weight classes contested at the Olympics, and each class will have 16 athletes competing.
Each country is limited to one athlete per weight class, so if any country were to qualify in every weight class, they would be able to take a full team of eight athletes.
How do taekwondo athletes qualify for the 2024 Olympics?
There were two phases to Olympic taekwondo qualification. Each phase is described in more detail below.
As the Olympic host nation, France is guaranteed at least four quota places (two for men, two for women), and there are also four universality invitations — which are given to athletes from countries with historically low Olympic delegations — available.
Ranking Lists
There were two different sets of rankings, both of which are maintained by World Taekwondo. The period for both lists ended in December 2023. The top athletes from these lists earned quota spots for their countries, but each country could only earn one quota spot per weight class.
- Olympic Rankings: Five athletes per weight class
- 2023 Grand Slam Series: One athlete per weight class
Continental Qualification Tournaments
Each of the five continents (Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Americas) hosted a qualification tournament. Only countries that had qualified fewer than two men or fewer than two women via the rankings could participate. For the Oceania tournament, only the top athlete in each weight class earned an Olympic quota spot; for all other tournaments, the top two athletes earned quota spots.
Who will compete for Team USA in taekwondo at the 2024 Olympics?
Four athletes (CJ Nickolas, Jonathan Healy, Faith Dillon, Kristina Teachout) have qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic taekwondo team. All four will be making their Olympic debuts at the Paris Games.
SEE MORE: Taekwondo 101: Who's qualified for Team USA in Tokyo?