World Taekwondo President Choue Chung-won speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul, July 17. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

This summer in Paris, taekwondo sees its seventh Olympics, now as a more captivating and fairer sport with new sparring rules under landmark settings, according to the World Taekwondo (WT) president.

The Olympic taekwondo venue is in the heart of Paris, where the sport was officially selected as an Olympic sport 30 years ago. The stadium is the historic Grand Palais, where the World Expo was held in 1900.

"I have high expectations for the event being held in this stadium, which is a more special venue than any other Olympic stadium in history," WT President Choue Chung-won said during a recent interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul ahead of the Summer Olympics.

"We've been making changes since Sydney 2000, but this time we have a new set of competition rules and the sparring area will be closer to the audience," he said. Taekwondo first appeared as an official Olympic sport at the 2000 Summer Games in the major Australian city.

The stadium at Grand Palais in downtown Paris, which Choue has already visited ahead of the event, seats 8,000 spectators.

Tickets are already sold out and the grand and picturesque atmosphere could overwhelm and even intimidate athletes, judges and spectators, Choue explained, as he expects the broadcast will become "a great spectacle" once it goes to broadcast.

People pass by the Grand Palais as Paris prepares to host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Under such unusual and new circumstances, the chances to win will be equally difficult for all competitors, he said. The key to victory will come down to who performs as they have done on a daily basis, Choue explained.

Another raft of changes to be introduced for the 2024 Paris Games will be seen in the competition rules.

Up until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, taekwondo had a three-round cumulative scoring system with two minutes for each round. To add more intensity and dynamics to the game, matches will now be decided in a best-of-three format. Athletes must win two of the three rounds to win a match, which will minimize "wait-and-see" strategies.

To ensure fairness of judgment, the sport has made thorough preparations for instant video replay system and coach-referee training.

Ahead of the Paris Olympics, 26 international taekwondo referees and 32 national team coaches from around the world participated in May in a coach-referee joint training camp in Muju County, North Jeolla Province.

"There can always be human error in sporting events where there is a referee. The key is how much effort is put into minimizing it and helping the referees' mind to be fairer," he said, adding that since the introduction of Protector and Scoring System electronic equipment, there have been almost no questions or arguments on referees' decisions.

Choue also believes sports should take the lead for humanitarian initiatives and social contributions.

"Sports is more than just entertainment and competition. It can play a big role in terms of how we contribute to our society," he said, underscoring that 134 taekwondo athletes will participate in this year's Olympics, a record-high number for the sport.

Yahya Al Ghotany, right, 20, a Syrian taekwondo athlete based in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan, trains at the Olympic Preparation Center in Amman, Jordan, May 2. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Some of the notable competitors among them are Omar Yaser Ismail, the first Palestinian to vie for an Olympic medal in the sport, and Dunya Ali M. Abutaleb, the first Saudi Arabian woman to compete in the Olympic sport.

Also, Yahya Al Ghotany, a Syrian athlete based in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan who started practicing taekwondo at the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation's (THF) Azraq Academy, will be carrying the Olympic flag on behalf of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team during the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

"It means a lot to me to carry this special flag for this unique team. At the opening ceremony, I will be thinking about everyone that has helped me on my journey — my friends, my family — but also the more than 100 million people around the world who, just like me, have had to flee their homes. I represent all of them," Al Ghotany said in an IOC press release.

"They can give great hopes to the women in sports in the Islamic region and many young people who are going through difficult times in war zones and refugee camps," Choue said.

In the 30 years since its selection to become a full medal sport, taekwondo has transformed into a universal sport with 213 member states and a refugee team. In this year's Olympics, a total of five refugee athletes will compete, which is the third-largest number after athletics and judo.

Even Korea, the home of the sport, cannot be guaranteed a medal. Korea ended up with no gold for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo Games, after having consistently won more than one gold medal at each Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Games.

The recent trend is that over 60 countries participate in the Olympics for taekwondo, among which around 25 countries take medals.

"Several countries that have a long history of participating in the Olympics but had no history of winning a medal have won in taekwondo," Choue said, "It was a great joy when competitors from African nations won medals."

"It's now hard to predict who will win gold, silver or bronze medals in taekwondo and it depends on each competitor's condition on the day," Choue said.

The Paris Olympics' taekwondo matches will be held for four days starting from Aug. 7, local time. The WT will hold a reception to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the official Olympic event in Paris on Aug. 6 and stage a taekwondo demonstration and virtual taekwondo experience during the event.

The Olympic rings are displayed on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, July 19, ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul