AZERBAIJAN TAEKWONDO PLAYERS AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Abstract

The Summer Olympics, also known as the Olympic Games, is a major international multisport event held every four years. The first Games were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece, and the most recent in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Taekwondo first appeared in the Summer Olympics as a demonstration sport in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. It was again a demonstration sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, Spain. Taekwondo was included in the Olympic program in 2000 at the Summer Olympic Games held in Sydney (Australia) as the first martial art. Azerbaijani taekwondo players began to participate in the Athens - 2004 Olympic Games for the first time. Rio - 2016 XXXI Summer Olympic Games, our taekwondo players, who went to the 2016 XXXI Summer Olympic Games for the first time with a full team (4 athletes), achieved a high result - they won 3 medals (1 gold and 2 bronze). According to these results, Azerbaijan's taekwondo national team, which went down in history as one of the best teams by taking the 4th place, finished the Olympics in the 1st place among the CIS countries, and in the 2nd place in Europe.