PATU Press – The tenth participation of taekwondo in the program of the Pan American Games, which this year will have Santiago de Chile as host, will go through an obligatory qualifying stop (March 22-23) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where four major tournaments of the Continental Calendar will be held, two of them with qualifying character to the great sporting event of America.
Almost 200 athletes have reported the different countries of the Pan American area for the Taekwondo Qualifying Tournament to Santiago 2023, a competition that could not have a better scenario: the Arena Carioca I, venue of the basketball, weightlifting, Olympic wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling events in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
In addition, this imposing facility of the Rio de Janeiro Sports Complex, with capacity for 16 thousand spectators, will also host the Qualifying Tournament for the ParaPan American Games Santiago 2023 (March 22), in a stellar moment for the continental ParaTaekwondo. Similarly, on March 24, the Pan-Am Series II will be held for athletes seeking Olympic and Paralympic qualification points for Paris 2024.
Four years ago, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, received the elite of Pan American taekwondo in the Qualifier to Lima 2019, an edition that saw the debut of poomsae and that distributed 46 medals among thirteen nations of the 26 that achieved the qualification and one of the nine Wild Cards distributed at that time.
“We are ready to continue with all the activities of this 2023, a decisive year of great importance for all the countries of the Pan American Region. I am very happy to invite you to one of the most important events of the year, the Qualifying Tournament for the Pan American Games, Santiago 2023, to be held in Rio de Janeiro”, says the LAE. Juan Manuel López Delgado, president of PATU, who reiterated that “the Qualifying Tournament will be the only scenario as an official event to win a place for the most important multisport games of our Continent. This would not be possible without the help, effort and support of the Brazilian Taekwondo Federation, the Government and the Sports Structure, to whom I want to extend my greatest appreciation”.
Kyorugui
For this edition, the 12 best athletes in Kyorugui women -49, -57 and -67 will qualify for the Pan American Games, and the 12 best male athletes in -58 kg, -68 and -80 will qualify.
The top ten athletes in women’s +67 kg and the top ten athletes in men’s +80 kg will win their quota to Santiago in Brazil.
Each MNA will be allowed to present one athlete per Olympic weight division. There will be seeding and draw: for each weight division, all athletes will be seeded according to the WT Ranking of March 1, 2023.
Cali 2021 Quotas
Santiago 2023 already had its first qualifiers a couple of years ago: the champions of the I Pan American Junior Games Cali-Valle 2021.
Poomsae
The second participation of poomsae in the Pan American Games will be in the men’s and women’s recognized poomsae and freestyle pairs poomsae events. It will be under the single elimination and cut system to classify the best eight pairs of the continent, pairs from which the competitors of the individual recognized poomsae events will be selected.
Each MNA can register until March 18 (closing date for registration) a maximum of TWO athletes (1 male and 1 female). They will qualify for the individual places through their participation in freestyle in pairs.
Team Kyorugui
PATU and PanamSports, the governing body of the Olympic Movement of the Americas, materialized the inclusion of Team Kyorugui in the program of the Pan American Games Santiago 2023, which symbolizes an unprecedented event for a Continental Taekwondo Union, being the first competition of this format in continental multisport events of Olympic cycle worldwide.
Teams with three or more qualifiers in individual combat will qualify directly to Santiago 2023. Team Kyorugui athletes shall be the same athletes participating in the individual Olympic divisions.
