The Taekwondo New Zealand (TNZ) Open will be held in May as an officially sanctioned World Taekwondo

tournament.At the same time, five Oceania Championships will also take place.These are the Oceania Para

Taekwondo Championships, the Oceania Poomsae Championships, the Oceania Junior Championships, 

 New Zealand sent one competitor to the Olympic taekwondo tournament at Rio 2016 in August.Andrea

 Kilday qualified for the Olympics by winning gold at the Oceania Taekwondo Championships.

A Parasport Advisory Group set up by the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), chaired by World Archery secretary general Tom Dielen, is due to hold its first meeting on Thursday (February 16).

As all of the Federations involved govern their respective Para disciplines, in the quadrenium leading

the work of any group that leads to Olympic Federations focusing more and paying greater attention to Para

represented on the group are archery, tennis, cycling, triathlon, rowing, canoeing, table tennis, equestrian, taekwondo

Shauna-Kay Hines has become the first Jamaican to win a medal at an international Para-taekwondo event

Federation (WTF) sanctioned Para-taekwondo event.

“It means [a lot] for Para Taekwondo; it is a great achievement going forward and a step for other athletes

attempt to pursue ranking points as she bids to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, where Para-taekwondo

- the United States, Canada, France, India, Mexico, Japan and Jamaica – participate at the US Open Para-taekwondo

Championships in Las Vegas.The event was held alongside the US Open Taekwondo competition.

Rwanda Taekwondo Federation (RTF) are confident in having 600 athletes attend the Gorilla International

Open and Africa Para-Taekwondo Open, with both events due to begin next month.

the country’s national teams, heading towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.Last year, para-taekwondo

qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 because we aim to debut at the next Olympic and Paralympic Games.”The African Para

Taekwondo Championships took place for the first time in Cairo last year ©WTFThe African Para Taekwondo

Open will be organised by the RTF with the support of the African Taekwondo Union.All athletes who wish

Federation (WTF) General Assembly in November, with the country set to debut in the Para-taekwondo event.The

London has been chosen as the host city for the 2017 World Para Taekwondo Championships.

2012 Olympics and goalball matches at the 2012 Paralympics, and will take place alongside the World Taekwondo

Championship.Mark Abberley, chief executive of British Taekwondo, said having the  Para tournament

truly ground-breaking for everyone in the organisation," he said.Samsun in Turkey hosted the 2015 World Para

 "Para Taekwondo has developed extensively in the past few years and I am certain that London and

biggest para taekwondo event to date," Choue said.Alongside the standard Para taekwondo categories,

Seven athletes participated at the British National Para Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Nottingham

the athletes competing at the Championships participated at the fifth edition of the Open European Para

Taekwondo Championships in Poland's capital Warsaw in September.The national competition was seen as

key, as British Taekwondo Poomsae seek to develop their national squad.They are also hoping to hold

seminars to put an extra focus on Para-taekwondo athlete training.British Taekwondo Poomsae chairman

Federation Para Taekwondo Poomsae Committee chairman.

Britain's double Paralympic champion Kadeena Cox has defended her decision to participate in Channel 4’s winter sport series The Jump, despite the safety risks, because she wants to make the most of every opportunity in life while she is still able to.

January 4, 2017Cox does not have any major cycling events in 2017 but is expected to compete at the World Para-Athletics

Smith is among other UK Sport funded athletes set to participate in The Jump ©Getty ImagesTwo-time taekwondo

Jones and four-time gymnastics medallist Louis Smith are the two other funded athletes competing.GB Taekwondo

Laurens Devos has been crowned the Belgian Paralympian of the year after his stunning gold medal winning performance at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

table tennis champion of all time ©Rio 2016Devos follows previous winner Marieke Vervoort, the former Para

annually to an athlete who has delivered a remarkable and exceptional sporting performance.Following taekwondo

Rwanda has been chosen to host the second edition of the African Para Taekwondo Open, scheduled to be

take place in Rwanda’s capital Kigali from April 1 to 2.It will bring together the continent’s top taekwondo

Open, should be added to their international calendar and will be staged every year.The African Para

Taekwondo Open will be organised by the Rwanda Taekwondo Federation with the support of the African

Taekwondo Union.All athletes who wish to enter must have an approved global licence from the WTF and

events.Para-taekwondo is braced to make its Paralympic Games debut at Tokyo 2020, with the WTF keen

The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) World Games 2017 will be held in Sharjah following approval by the governing body's Executive Board.

from November 30 to December 9 in the emirate, includes athletics, archery, powerlifting, shooting, para

taekwondo and wheelchair fencing and will host athletes from under 20’s to Open and Master classes,

The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) has opened three separate bidding processes for its events to be

be decided in Muju in South Korea on June 22, 2017, just before the WTF’s flagship event, the World Taekwondo

Events available to bid for include the World Taekwondo Championships, the World Taekwondo Team Championships

and the World Taekwondo Grand-Prix Series and the Final.Also on offer are the World Taekwondo Junior

Championships, the World Taekwondo Cadet Championships, the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships and

the World Para Taekwondo Championships.

The United States’ Corbin Stacey has risen two places to number two in the latest Para-taekwondo world

Championships saw 12 athletes from six countries across four continents take part.It was the final continental Para-Taekwondo

Open and the last international Para-taekwondo event of 2016.

motor impaired P30 classes for the second occasion.Chinese Taipei made their international debut in Para-taekwondo

Australia were the dominant force at the Oceania Taekwondo Championships in Fiji’s capital Suva, winning

and Adam Meyers clinched the bronze medals.Mongolia won two of the four gold medals in the Oceania Para

Taekwondo Championships courtesy of wins for Enkhtuya Khurelbaatar in the K44 women’s under-49kg and

Poland’s Przemyslaw Wieczorek in the K44 men’s over-75kg showdown.The only bronze medallist in the Para

Taekwondo Championships was Japan’s Chikara Ito, who finished third in the K44 men’s under-61kg.

The Fiji Taekwondo Association has targeted producing more athletes who can represent the country at

Fiji hosted the seventh Oceania Taekwondo Championship and the second edition of the Oceania Para-Taekwondo

at the Vodafone Arena in Suva.The Pacific country has never fielded a representative in any Olympic taekwondo

go to the 2020 Olympic Games," he said to the Fiji Times.Fiji have never had an athlete compete in taekwondo

at an Olympic Games ©Getty Images"We are also looking at Para-athletes."

Taekwondo Canada, Sport Burnaby and the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) collaborated to provide a free

seminar on Para-taekwondo, as a legacy of the World Junior Championships.

The seminar provided an insight into the much anticipated WTF Para-Taekwondo Education Programme as well

as some valuable tips and strategies for participants to use in their taekwondo schools and dojangs.Participants

guided by educator and presenter Lisa Standeven.Standeven was keen to discuss her own experiences as a Para-taekwondo

athletes and officials interested in getting involved in the sport in the Spring of next year.Para-taekwondo

will debut on the Paralympic stage at Tokyo 2020.Taekwondo is a growing Para-sport ©WTF/FacebookMore