Iran’s Only Female Olympic Medalist Defects
Iran’s only female Olympic medalist has defected from the Islamic Republic calling herself “one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran.” Taekwondo athlete Kimia Alizadeh posted a letter on Instagram as Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency said she had fled to the Netherlands. She criticized wearing the mandatory hijab headscarf and accused officials in…
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Korea’s Olympic Journey
Bae Soon-hak, is the former secretary general of the Korean Sports and Olympic Committee. He has been witness to the National Sports Festival (NSF) and Korea’s Olympic journey. Representing their provinces and metropolitan cities, athletes from all sports disciplines compete to win medals at the festival. “Korea’s current strong presence in international sports is possible…
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The Fight Against Doping by Russian Athletes
As the saga of the doping by Russian athletes enters its fifth year, new leadership at the World Anti-Doping Agency will take over. Witold Banka takes over January 1 as president of WADA. Elected to the post in November, the Polish minister of sport is succeeding Craig Reedie, who is retiring from the IOC in…
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GAMMA Headed for Toward IOC Approval?
The Global Association Of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) on Thursday, 19 December, announced that it formally submitted its application for Observer Status with the Global Association Of International Sports Federations (GAISF). Observer Status allows GAMMA to continue improving and strengthening governance, rules, policies, and global representation for mixed martial arts. This represents the first step GAMMA needs to…
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5-Year-Old Creates Healthy Initiative, Raises Money for Charity with TaeKwonDo
Nobody says it better than Ariel, the following is taken from Ariel Bach’s website. Recently, I learned that more and more children are likely to become overweight or obese even at MY age due to lack of exercise and unhealthy diet/habits, and I wanted to do something about it using my small talent! With my…
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Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation Supporter Honoured with Black Belt Certificate
World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue presented an honorary seventh dan black belt certificate to Dr. Lu Dezhi, chairman of the Huamin Charity Foundation. The honour recognises Lu’s “commitment and contribution” to taekwondo and in particular his work with the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF). This year the THF, which works to teach the sport to refugees…
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Tokyo 2020 and World Taekwondo, Booyoung Dream Program
The Booyoung Dream Programme is currently being held in Muju, South Korea, and is giving the taekwondo stars the best preparations for the Olympic Games. The project offers athletes suffering from limited financial means the chance to be assessed ahead of their respective continental qualification tournaments. Three refugee athletes – Kasra Mehdipournejad, Amir Mohammad Hosseini…
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Olympic Organizations Face Multiple Investigations by Justice Department, State Attorneys General
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating several American Olympic sports organizations — including the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, USA Swimming and USA Taekwondo — for their handling of allegations of sexual abuse committed by coaches and officials as well as for possible financial wrongdoing. In further developments, the attorneys general in…
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