Taekwondo Opens at Dakar 2026 Under Revised Rules
World Taekwondo expects 99 athletes at the Youth Olympic Games in Senegal. The individual events run November 8–11, followed on November 12 by the first mixed-team Taekwondo event to award medals at an Olympic competition.
DAKAR, Senegal — Taekwondo competition begins Sunday, November 8, at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. At a press conference Friday in Diamniadio, World Taekwondo (WT) technical delegate Philippe Bouedo outlined changes introduced after Paris 2024 to reduce stoppages and limit video reviews.
Bouedo referred to 11 rule changes. One gives the opponent two points when a referee issues a single gam-jeom for passive behavior in the final 10 seconds of a round. WT approved that change in April, and it took effect on June 1. Bouedo also said coaches can no longer request video reviews to claim points for head or trunk strikes that the electronic scoring system did not register, according to Senegal’s public broadcaster RTS. WT’s November 6 release did not list all 11 changes.
WT Secretary General Jeongkang Seo and Dakar 2026 Taekwondo sport manager Mamadou Ndiaye joined Bouedo at the press conference, along with Senegalese athletes Aida Toure and Ibrahima Beye. WT expects 50 women and 49 men from 65 countries and the Olympic Refugee Team.
Mixed teams close the Taekwondo program
The individual competition features five women’s and five men’s weight divisions. Seven countries are scheduled to compete in the mixed-team event on Thursday, November 12. Mexico will be the only team from the Americas.
Taekwondo has been on the Youth Olympic Games program since the inaugural edition in Singapore in 2010. Dakar 2026 is the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games held in Africa.
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