USA Taekwondo (USAT) is the

national governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

(NGB) of

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

for the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

(USOC) and thus the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

's official Member National Association of

World Taekwondo World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is an international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The ''World Taekw ...

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 (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

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 a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

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 sp ...

- 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) is 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 television and film, actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his recurring roles as Elliott, a producer on the show '' Sports Night'', Mr. Corelli, Miley Stewart ...

- 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 a ...

- 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 ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with ...

- 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 Olympic ...

- Bronze *Lynnette Love - Bronze *

Terry Poindexter Terry Poindexter Gautreaux was 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 l ...

- Bronze

2000 – Sydney, Australia

U.S. MEDALISTS *

Barbara Kunkel Barbara Kunkel (born 17 September 1969) is an American taekwondo practitioner. She competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She won a bronze medal in middleweight at the 1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially t ...

- Silver *

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 4th ...

- Gold

2004 – Athens, Greece

U.S. MEDALISTS *

- Gold * Nia Abdallah - Silver

2008 - Beijing, China

U.S. MEDALISTS *

Mark López Mark López Mendieta is an American taekwondo practitioner. Mark represented the United States in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. He advanced to the men's -68 kg Gold Medal Match where he lost to Korea's Tae ...

- Silver * 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 - Bronze

2016 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

U.S. MEDALISTS * Jackie Galloway - Bronze

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:USA Taekwondo

Taekwondo in the United States 1978 establishments in the United States Sports organizations established in 1978 National members of World Taekwondo Organizations based in Colorado Springs, Colorado National Taekwondo teams