WTF - 40TH BIRTHDAY

As the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) celebrates 40 years since its inception today, President of the WTF, Chungwon Choue, declared the sport "a force for good in the world."

Established in Korea in 1973, the WTF now has 204 member nation associations (MNA) and has been integral in making taekwondo one of the world's boom sports.

Taekwondo made its debut as an official medal sport at the Olympic Games in 2000 and the WTF has since guided many innovations, helping it reach around 70 million practitioners worldwide.

The sport is constantly evolving, with the recent introduction of new equipment such as the sophisticated Protector and Scoring System (PSS) and the Instant Video Replay (IVR), making for a fairer adjudication process.