Tae Kwon Do Life Magazine June 2017 | Page 7

Gr an dm ast er Yoo Hyu n g Hw an , com m i ssi on er of M u j u Wor l d Ch am pi on sh i ps. He i s t h e f or m er 1964 Kor ean Nat i on al Team M em ber . SEOUL, Kor ea (M ar ch 19, 2017) ? To m ar k the star t of the 100-day countdow n to the 2017 W TF Wor ld Taekw ondo Cham pionships ? set to be the biggest com petition in the spor t?s histor y ? centr al Seoul has been built up w ith taekw ondo action. The Or ganizing Com m ittee of the 2017 cham pionships, w hich w ill take place in M uju, in Kor ea?s southw est, staged a taekw ondo-them ed festival in Gw angw ham un, centr al Seoul, on M ar ch 19 to m ar k the D-100 countdow n. The cur tain r aiser is being pr epar ed to r aise the visibility of the cham pionships. In 100 days, the w or ld?s top taekw ondo athletes w ill step onto the m ats at Taekw ondow on, a pur pose-built tr aining and com petition facility in M uju in southw ester n Kor ea?s Jeollabuk-do pr ovince. Ther e, the cham pionships w ill w elcom e the elite of the w or ld?s 80 m illion-str ong taekw ondo population, over seven days fr om June 24 to June 30. The 2017 Wor ld Cham pionships w ill w elcom e an estim ated 1,900 par ticipants fr om 170 countr ies 7 and w ill cover ed by 200 r epr esentatives of global m edia. Vice-pr esident of the Inter national Olym pic Com m ittee (IOC) Yu Zaiqing is scheduled to attend the Opening Cer em ony, w hile IOC pr esident Thom as Bach plans to m ake an appear ance at the Closing Cer em ony. Star ting at 10 a.m . local tim e in dow ntow n Seoul?s Gw anghw am un, inter active booths pr ovided taekw ondo-them ed activities such as br ick-br eaking challenges and catw alks w ith pr êt-à-por te taekw ondo gear. Thr oughout the day, ther e w er e taekw ondo per for m ances and ar t exhibits displaying the histor y of taekw ondo. W hen the official event star ted at 2 p.m . local tim e, var ious cer em onies took place, including the intr oduction of Rio Olym pic star s Hye-r i Oh and Dae-hoon Lee as taekw ondo am bassador s. In M ay, one m onth befor e the cham pionships kick off in M uju begins, ther e w ill be a D-30 countd ow n festival in Jeollabuk-do. ?Every member of the World Taekwondo Family is looking forward with great anticipation to the 2017 World Championships, our biggest competition ever,? said W TF Pr esident Chungw on Choue. ?I applaud the great efforts being made by the M uju Organizing Committee to communicate our excitement to the general public.? To Find Out M or e visit: http://w w w.w or ldtaekw ondofeder ation.net