USA Taekwondo (USAT) is the national governing body (NGB) of

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

for the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

(USOC) and thus the United States' official Member National Association of

World Taekwondo World Taekwondo, formerly the World Taekwondo Federation, is an international federation governing the sport of Taekwondo and Para Taekwondo. WT is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The World Taekwo ...

USAT has complete authority over all decisions regarding US national junior and senior team selections for World Taekwondo events, including the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

Taekwondo competition event.

History

The group formed in the 1970s as the AAU National Taekwondo Association, but later broke away from the AAU and created the United States Taekwondo Union (USTU). In 2005, its name changed again to USA Taekwondo after the USOC took over the governance of the USTU in 2004. In 2006, the first USAT Board of Directors was elected by the membership. The headquarters of USAT is located in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Leadership

* Dr. Ken Min (Chairman-National AAU Taekwondo Committee 1974-1978) * Dr. Dong Ja Yang (Chairman-AAU National Taekwondo Union 1979-1984) * Grand Master Moo Young Lee (US Taekwondo Union 1985-1986) * Grand Master Kyongwon Ahn (US Taekwondo Union 1986-1988, 1989–1992) * Grand Master Hwa Chong (US Taekwondo Union 1993-1996) * Grand Master Sang Lee (US Taekwondo Union 1997-2000) * Harvey Berkey (Chair USA Taekwondo 2006) * Ronda Sweet (Chair USA Taekwondo 2007-2009) * Kevin Padilla (Chair USA Taekwondo 2010–?) * David Askinas (CEO USA Taekwondo 2006-2011). * Eric Parthen (CEO USA Taekwondo 2011-2012) * Bruce Harris (CEO USA Taekwondo 2013–2016) * Keith Ferguson (CEO USA Taekwondo 2016-2017) * Steve MacNally (CEO USA Taekwondo 2017–present)

USA Taekwondo in the Olympic Games

During its history many athletes representing the USAT at the Olympics have been successful at obtaining medals.

1988 – Seoul, South Korea (demonstration sport)

U.S. MEDALISTS *

Dana Hee Dana Hee (born as Dana Lynn Davidson on November 9, 1961, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American martial artist, stuntwoman, action film actress and model, who has also worked as sports color commentator, trainer, spokesperson, motivational s ...

- Gold *

Arlene Limas Arlene Limas (born February 9, 1966) is an American taekwondo practitioner and multiple international gold medalist of Mexican and Polish descent. Early life and education Limas graduated with honors from Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chi ...

- Gold * Lynnette Love - Gold * Jimmy Kim - Gold *

Debra Holloway Debra Holloway (January 23, 1955 – 2011)was a former U.S. Olympian in Taekwondo. She was a seven-time US bantamweight champion, and earned a silver medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics despite fighting her final round with a broken finger. Sh ...

- Silver * Juan Moreno - Silver * Mayumi Pejo - Bronze * Sharon Jewell - Bronze *

Han Won Lee Han Won Lee is a former US Olympian. Han tore his PCL prior to the Olympic Trials and would still make the 1988 Summer Olympics. He was selected for the US Olympic team and competed in the 1988 Olympics in the Taekwondo event and earned a Bron ...

- Bronze *

Greg Baker Gregory Baker (born April 16, 1968 in Saint Paul, Minnesota) is an American actor and editor. He is perhaps best known for his recurring roles as Elliott, a producer on the show ''Sports Night'', Mr. Corelli, Miley Stewart's history teacher on '' ...

- Bronze *

Jay Warwick Jay Warwick is a former United States Olympian in taekwondo. Warwick won bronze medals in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and 1987 Barcelona World Championships, gold at the 1986 Pan Am Championships and silver in 1982, bronze at the 1987 Pan Am Games an ...

- Bronze

1992 – Barcelona, Spain (demonstration sport)

U.S. MEDALISTS *

Herbert Perez Herbert J. "Herb" Perez (born December 6, 1959) is a former US Olympian in taekwondo and a politician. He was a gold medalist in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Personal life Perez was born in New York City to a Polish mother and a Puerto Rican fat ...

- Gold *Juan Moreno - Silver *

Diane Murray Diane Murray is a former US Olympian, competing in taekwondo. Murray earned a silver medal in the 1992 Olympic Games and a bronze medal at the 1993 World Taekwondo Championships The 1993 World Taekwondo Championships were the 11th edition of ...

- Silver *

Danielle Laney Danielle Laney is a former Olympic Level Competitor in Taekwondo. Danielle is from Jenks, Oklahoma She competed in the women's welterweight division. She would win the Olympic trials by going undefeated, beating Arlene Limas. At the 1992 Olympics ...

- Bronze *Lynnette Love - Bronze *

Terry Poindexter Terry Poindexter Gautreaux is a former US Olympian who competed in taekwondo. Poindexter started competing in 1987 and won gold in the Student World Championships. She competed in the 1992 Olympic Games earning a bronze medal in the 132 lbs ...

- Bronze

2000 – Sydney, Australia

U.S. MEDALISTS *

Steven López Steven López (born November 9, 1978) is an American taekwondo competitor, a 2000 and 2004 Olympic gold medalist (in the -68 and -80 kg divisions, respectively) and a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist (again in the -80 kg division) and 4 ...

- Gold

2004 – Athens, Greece

U.S. MEDALISTS *

- Gold * Nia Abdallah - Silver

2008 - Beijing, China

U.S. MEDALISTS *

Mark López Mark Lopez or Marc Lopez could refer to: *Mark López (taekwondo), American Olympic taekwando practitioner * Mark López (American executive), digital media executive *Mark Lopez (Filipino executive) (born 1972), chairman of ABS-CBN Corporation * ...

- Silver *

Diana López Diana López may refer to: * Diana López (taekwondo) (born 1984), American Olympic taekwondo competitor * Diana López (artist) (born 1968), Venezuelan visual artist * Diana López (footballer) (born 1993), Nicaraguan footballer * Diana López ...

- Bronze *

- Bronze

2012 - London, England

U.S. MEDALISTS *

Paige McPherson Paige Arielle "McFierce" McPherson (born October 1, 1990, in Abilene, Texas) is an Olympic taekwondo competitor from the United States. Biography Early life and education McPherson grew up in Sturgis, South Dakota. She and four other sibli ...

- Bronze *

Terrence Jennings Terrence Jennings (born July 28, 1986) is an American taekwondo practitioner. He began competing internationally in 2003 and qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he qualified for the repechage in the 68 kg lightw ...

- Bronze

2016 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

U.S. MEDALISTS *

Jackie Galloway Jaqueline Sanchez Galloway (born December 27, 1995) is an Americans, American taekwondo competitor and a bronze medalist in the 2016 Olympics. She is also a citizen of Mexico. 2012 season Galloway was an alternate for the Mexican team at the 20 ...

- Bronze

2020 - Tokyo, Japan

U.S. MEDALISTS *

Anastasija Zolotic Anastasija Zolotic ( sr-Cyrl, Анастасија Золотић, Anastasija Zolotić (born 23 November 2002) is an American taekwondo athlete and Olympic gold medalist. She won the silver medal at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in the girls 49 ...

- Gold

2024 - Paris, France

U.S. MEDALISTS *

Kristina Teachout Kristina Danielle Teachout (born September 13, 2005) is an American taekwondo athlete. She represented the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in the 67 kg contest. Career Teachout made her senior international deb ...

- Bronze

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:USA Taekwondo

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Taekwondo in the United States 1978 establishments in the United States Sports organizations established in 1978 Organizations based in Colorado Springs, Colorado