2010 Youth Olympic Games - Results

The Taekwondo competition of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games will commence in Singapore on Aug. 15 for a five-day run and will take place at the International Convention Centre. Athletes from 67 countries will compete for top honors in five male and five female weight categories.

During the five-day Taekwondo competitions, two weight category matches will take place every day. The competition schedule is as follows: the women's -44kg and the men's -48kg on Aug. 15, the women's -49kg and the men's -55kg on Aug. 16, the women's -55kg and the men's -63kg on Aug. 17, the women's -63kg and the men's -73kg on Aug. 18, and the women's +63kg and the men's +73kg on Aug. 19.

A total of 60 athletes, the top six athletes in each of the 10 weight categories at the WTF World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games held on March 3-4, 2010 in Tijuana, Mexico, were qualified for the Taekwondo competition. As Russia gave up one male ticket, a total of 59 athletes, 29 male and 30 female, were qualified.

The 67 participating countries breakdown to 21 countries in Asia, 19 countries in Europe, 14 countries in Africa, 11 countries in Pan America and two countries in Oceania.

Mexico fields five athletes, the biggest of the 67 countries, followed by Germany, Russia, Korea and host Singapore with four each. China, France, Iran and the United States sent three athletes each, while Bahrain, Jordan, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, Ukraine, Canada, and Cuba dispatched two athletes each. A total of 49 countries sent one athlete.

An instant video replay system will be used for the Taekwondo competition of the Youth Olympic Games, but electronic body protector and scoring systems (PSS) will not be used this time as reported by WTF.

All the contests will take place at one court of a size of 8 meters by 8 meters, with a single elimination format. Two bronze medals will be awarded to the losers in the semifinals. Each contest will consist of three rounds of two minutes, with one-minute intervals between rounds.

Congratulations to Melanie Phan, who won a Bronze at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. Ms. Phan beat Egypt. 7 to 1, Singapore 15 to 6 and lost a judges decision to Thailand 4 to 4.

Stefan Bozalo of Vancouver, BC captured Canada’s second medal in Taekwondo in the +73kg division on August 19 at the Youth Olympic Games.

Bozalo off to a strong start won his first fight against Peru 8-0. He then lost his second match 3-4 to Germany, capturing a bronze medal. This is Canada’s second medal in Taekwondo at the inaugural event.

On Monday, Bozalo’s teammate Melanie Phan also captured a bronze in the women’s -49kg event.