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

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 emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

'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 ina ...

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 the ...

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 - Gold * Lynnette Love - Gold *

Jimmy Kim Jimmy Young Kim (born 1967) is an American taekwondo practitioner and instructor who won a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the Taekwondo at the 1988 Summer Olympics, 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He earned a bachelor's de ...

- Gold * Debra Holloway - Silver * Juan Moreno - Silver * Mayumi Pejo - Bronze * Sharon Jewell - Bronze * Han Won Lee - 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 Stewar ...

- Bronze * Jay Warwick - Bronze

1992 – Barcelona, Spain (demonstration sport)

U.S. MEDALISTS * Herbert Perez - Gold *Juan Moreno - Silver * Diane Murray - Silver * Danielle Laney - Bronze *Lynnette Love - Bronze * Terry Poindexter - Bronze

2000 – Sydney, Australia

U.S. MEDALISTS * Barbara Kunkel - 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 4 ...

- 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 sibl ...

- 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