In a historic step towards strengthening taekwondo in the Pan-American region, the Pan-American Taekwondo Union has signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) aimed at promoting inter-institutional cooperation and enhancing opportunities for athletes and the entire PATU family in the region.

Para-taekwondo athletes are preparing for the European Qualification Tournament for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in Sofia, Bulgaria followed by the Asian Qualification Tournament for the Games in Tai'an City, China.

Magda Wiet-Hénin, France's 2023 World Taekwondo Champion in the women's -67kg category, has had a childhood dream of winning the Olympic Games and will be among the contenders for Paris 2024, reports L'Est Républicain.

USA Paralympic taekwondo athlete Evan Medell won bronze at Tokyo 2020, but the tournament ended in frustration for him. He broke his leg early in his semi-final bout against Croatia's Ivan Mikulic and now his dream is to win Paralympic gold in Paris, Team USA reports.

New Zealand is in danger of being left without an Olympic quota in taekwondo. On 30th January Taekwondo New Zealand (TNZ) announced the names of the four athletes selected to represent New Zealand at the upcoming 2024 Oceania Olympic Qualifiers Tournament. Cole Creich-Watene (men's -58kg), Eisa Mozhdeh (men's -68kg), Jamie Carpenter (women's -57kg) and Jemesa Landers (women's -67kg) were due to compete for qualification spots at the continental qualifiers. However, their participation at Paris 2024 will be in doubt even if they win the continental tournament.

The 2024 WT President's Cup - Asia was held in Tehran from 16-20 February. Iranian athletes including Amir Mohammad Haghighatshenas (men's K44 -70kg), Saeid Sadeghianpour (men's K44 -63kg) put on an impressive display, winning seven of the 10 gold medals in the Para-Taekwondo competition.

The Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) Jordan project in the Azraq refugee camp has been running since 2016. It has shown significant results through the "Humanitarian Taekwondo Center" opened in 2018, where children can practice taekwondo in the best conditions.

The Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) has congratulated Team Nigeria's taekwondo star, Elizabeth Anyanacho, for qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Leadership reports.

The Italian Taekwondo National Team has already qualified for Paris 2024 with Vito Dell'Aquila in the -58 kg category and Simone Alessio in the -80 kg category. Now they are aiming for two more qualifiers in the women's -49kg and -67kg categories.

Taekwondo Canada has announced that the 2024 Canada Open was the most successful international event ever hosted by the organisation. More than 800 athletes from 41 countries competed in the three-day event, which took place from 8 to 10 February in Vancouver, British Columbia, MASTKD reports.

Brazilian taekwondo kyorugi athletes were the best at the Canada Open a week ago, and they did the same at the US Open, which took place from 16-18 February.

In the absence of the Olympic athletes, who are in Turkey preparing for the Games, the next generation pushed the more experienced athletes to the limit at the French Senior Taekwondo Championships this weekend at the FDI Stadium in Montpellier.

Taekwondo is one of the most important sports in Jordan. In 2016, taekwondo fighter Ahmad Abughaush won Jordan's first official Olympic medal by topping the podium in the -68kg category, before Saleh El Sharabaty (-80kg) added a second medal five years later in Tokyo with a silver. 

Canada's Skylar Park was a rookie Olympian at Tokyo 2020, trying to make sense of the most pressure-packed competition of her life in the middle of a pandemic. Now she is preparing for her second Games as one of the leaders in the Olympic women's 57kg category.

The recent Poomsae Officiating Seminar in the Pan American region was a resounding success, with the majority of participants being approved to officiate at WT sanctioned events.