World Taekwondo Championships heading to city
MANCHESTER is to host the World Taekwondo Championships in 2019.
The event will take place at the Manchester Arena after the UK successfully bid for a unique package of events to be staged in the lead up to the 2020 Olympic Games.
A bid team made up of GB Taekwondo, UK Sport, Manchester City Council, the Mayor of London’s office and British Taekwondo has also secured two legs of the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Series, to be hosted at London’s Copper Box Arena in 2017 and Manchester’s Regional Arena in 2018.
The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) confirmed the package of events at its Executive Council meeting in Burnaby, Canada.
Manchester beat off stiff opposition from Houston, USA to win the right to stage the 2019 World Championships. The city has a growing reputation for staging international Taekwondo events and the WTF Council was convinced that Manchester would be the ideal hosts for their flagship, biennial event.
As part of the three-year event package, London was confirmed as host of the 2017 Grand Prix following the success of 2016 British Taekwondo Championships which was also held on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in September. This will be the first international taekwondo event held in the capital since the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
And the UK bid includes a commitment to a four-year community Taekwondo programme – in both London and Manchester – to capitalise on the increased profile of the sport and inspire more young people to take part.
The events will build on the growing profile of the sport in the UK, following the British team’s unparalleled success at the Rio Olympic Games.
Steve Flynn, director of GB Taekwondo said: “Securing these events for the UK provides Taekwondo with a massive boost and a chance to drive real growth in the sport over the coming years, not just in London and Manchester, but right across the country.”
Cllr Luthfur Rahman, executive member for culture and leisure at Manchester City Council, said: “We are proud and honoured to be chosen as the host city for the 2018 World Taekwondo Federation Grand Prix and the WTF 2019 World Taekwondo Championships.
“Through providing GB Taekwondo with their state-of-the-art training base at the National Taekwondo Centre and by hosting many previous international events and tournaments, we have worked hard to support and promote taekwondo in Manchester. Now we look forward to welcoming the world’s elite for these prestigious events.”
