Lasting legacy: World Taekwondo ticks all boxes at Olympic Solidarity training camp in Pan Am region 

When an athlete describes your training camp as transformative, saying she wouldn’t have been able to qualify for the Olympic Games without it, your work as an organiser can confidently be deemed a success.

Hats off, then, to World Taekwondo (WT) for planning and delivering the World Taekwondo Olympic Solidarity Camp in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from 2-10 April 2024.

As one of the key activities in the newly created Sport Development cluster’s Youth Athlete Development programme for the Olympic Solidarity 2021-2024 plan, the sport-specific training camps for athletes under the age of 23 were offered to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) with fewer than 50 athletes at the previous edition of the Olympic Games.

The programme is an extension of earlier engagement with a limited number of International Federations (IFs) selected to test the approach during the previous plan.

In the 2021-2024 period, 34 IFs heeded Olympic Solidarity’s call to get involved, with WT proposing a series of training camps in Oceania, Africa and the Americas, each ending with a continental qualification tournament.

The main objective of the Santo Domingo camp was to provide promising young Taekwondo athletes with the technical expertise, tactical tools, experience and knowledge of electronic scoring equipment to succeed in qualifying for and participating at Paris 2024.

This goal was clearly achieved. Of the 16 athletes from the camp who competed at the Pan American Qualification Tournament on 9-10 April, six booked their tickets to Paris.

Among them was 19-year-old Maria Sara Grippoli Gagliardo of Uruguay, who credited an increased familiarity with the electronic scoring system as being the most valuable takeaway from training.

“The camp was key; it served as a physical and technical foundation,” said Grippoli Gagliardo, who would go on to become the first Taekwondo Olympian in Uruguayan history. “It helped us improve by training with other countries at different levels and qualify for Paris.”

The training camp brought together 56 athletes from 16 Pan American NOCs in addition to 17 national team coaches. In coordination with WT, Olympic Solidarity covered the costs of travel, accommodation, meals, access to the facilities and training equipment.

The legacy of the camp extended far beyond the Pan Am qualifier. The athletes gained valuable knowledge and experience they would otherwise have not had access to, while local practitioners will benefit from the Protector Scoring System, electronic head gear and other equipment donated by WT and its sponsors to the Dominican Republic Taekwondo Federation at the conclusion of the camp.

The NOC of the Dominican Republic and the national federation, meanwhile, upskilled their competencies in event administration and operations, once again demonstrating themselves to be reliable hosts after successfully organising the 2003 Pan Am Games and other regional events.

Coaching in the region also received a significant boost, which was a key part of WT’s legacy planning. The global governing body committed to working with local coaches before, during and after the training camp. This included theoretical learning provided online and face-to-face instruction from two renowned figures in Taekwondo coaching: Professors Dongwan Lee and Youngin Bang.

Lee and Bang schooled coaches and athletes alike on subjects ranging from individual training techniques and match understanding to tactical strategies and the roles and rights of coaches, referees, and administrators in managing competitions. Additionally, as Grippoli Gagliardo noted, participants received detailed instruction on how to utilize electronic scoring systems effectively, thereby enhancing their ability to score points.

“We believe that while elite athlete training is essential, it is equally important to provide coaches with proper training programmes and management skills for their athletes,” said Seungmin Lee, Head of Member Relations & Development at WT. “This is why, after attending our camp, the relationship between the athletes and their coaches becomes stronger, and they are able to build mutual trust.”

For the six athletes who secured their spots at Paris 2024, the impact of the World Taekwondo Olympic Solidarity Camp in Santo Domingo was immediate and, indeed, transformative. But thanks to strengthened coaching networks, enhanced event-hosting capabilities, and a new generation of athletes equipped with the skills, equipment and confidence to compete, the legacy of this initiative should continue shaping the future of Taekwondo in the Pan American region for years to come.