USA Taekwondo (USAT) is the national governing body (NGB) of Taekwondo for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and thus the United States's official Member National Association of the World Taekwondo Federation. USAT has complete authority over all decisions regarding US national junior and senior team selections for World Taekwondo Federation events, including the Summer Olympic Games Taekwondo competition event.
History
The group formed in the 1970s as the AAU National Taekwondo Association, but later broke away from the AAU and created the United States Taekwondo Union (USTU). In 2005, its name changed again to USA Taekwondo after the USOC took over the governance of the USTU in 2004. In 2006, the first USAT Board of Directors was elected by the membership.
The headquarters of USAT is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Leadership
- Dr. Ken Min (Chairman-National AAU Taekwondo Committee 1974-1978)
- Dr. Dong Ja Yang (Chairman-AAU National Taekwondo Union 1979-1984)
- Grand Master Moo Young Lee (US Taekwondo Union 1985-1986)
- Grand Master Kyongwon Ahn (US Taekwondo Union 1986-1988, 1989-1992)
- Grand Master Hwa Chong (US Taekwondo Union 1993-1996)
- Grand Master Sang Lee (US Taekwondo Union 1997-2000)
- Harvey Berkey (Chair USA Taekwondo 2006)
- Ronda Sweet (Chair USA Taekwondo 2007-2009)
- Kevin Padilla (Chair USA Taekwondo 2010-?)
- David Askinas (CEO USA Taekwondo 2006-2011)
- Eric Parthen (CEO USA Taekwondo 2011-2012)
- Bruce Harris (CEO USA Taekwondo 2013-present)
Affiliated WTF Schools
As of 2013 there are approximately 784 schools recognized by and registered with the USAT, with only three out of the fifty states not having any schools. The number of schools in each state along with the name of the corresponding state association is provided below.
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska State Taekwondo Association (12)
- Arizona State Taekwondo Association, Inc. (23)
- Arkansas (1)
- California Unified Taekwondo Association (106)
- Colorado State Taekwondo Association (24)
- Connecticut Taekwondo Association (15)
- Delaware (1)
- District of Colombia (0)
- Florida Taekwondo Union (46)
- Georgia Taekwondo Foundation (14)
- The Kids' Dreams (TKD) of Hawaii (9)
- Idaho (5)
- Illinois Taekwondo State Association (37)
- Indiana State Taekwondo Martial Arts Commission (7)
- State of Iowa Taekwondo Association (1)
- Kansas Taekwondo Association (10)
- Kentucky (5)
- Louisiana (2)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland State Taekwondo Organization (15)
- Massachusetts (21)
- Michigan Sport Taekwondo Inc. (34)
- Minnesota Taekwondo Association, Inc. (18)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri State Taekwondo Organization (11)
- Montana Taekwondo Association (6)
- Nebraska (0)
- Nevada State Association (8)
- New Hampshire (7)
- New Jersey Taekwondo Association (44)
- New Mexico (2)
- New York State Taekwondo Federation (66)
- North Carolina Taekwondo Organization (12)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio State Taekwondo Association (19)
- Oklahoma (10)
- USA Taekwondo Oregon Foundation (30)
- Pennsylvania Taekwondo Inc. (28)
- Rhode Island State Taekwondo Association (4)
- South Carolina State Taekwondo Association (10)
- South Dakota (2)
- Tennessee (5)
- Texas State Association (40)
- Utah State Taekwondo Association (6)
- Vermont (1)
- Virginia State Taekwondo Association (29)
- Washington State Taekwondo High Performance Association (18)
- West Virginia (0)
- Wisconsin Taekwondo Association(WTA), Inc. (15)
- Wyoming (1)
USA Taekwondo in the Olympic Games
During its history many athletes representing the USAT at the Olympics have been successful at obtaining medals.
1988 - Seoul, South Korea (Demonstration Sport)
U.S. MEDALISTS
- Dana Hee - Gold
- Arlene Limas - Gold
- Lynnette Love - Gold
- Jimmy Kim - Gold
- Debra Holloway - Silver
- Juan Moreno - Silver
- Mayumi Pejo - Bronze
- Sharon Jewell - Bronze
- Han Won Lee - Bronze
- Greg Baker - Bronze
- Jay Warwick - Bronze
1992 - Barcelona, Spain (Demonstration Sport)
U.S. MEDALISTS
- Herbert Perez - Gold
- Juan Moreno - Silver
- Diane Murray (Taekwondo) - Silver
- Danielle Laney - Bronze
- Lynnette Love - Bronze
- Terry Poindexter - Bronze
2000 - Sydney, Australia
U.S. MEDALISTS
- Steven López - Gold
2004 - Athens, Greece
U.S. MEDALISTS
- Steven López - Gold
- Nia Abdallah - Silver
2008 - Beijing, China
U.S. MEDALISTS
- Mark López - Silver
- Diana López - Bronze
- Steven López - Bronze
2012 - London, England
U.S. MEDALISTS
- Paige McPherson - Bronze
- Terrence Jennings - Bronze
References
Interesting Informations
Looking products related to this topic, find out at Amazon.com
Source of the article : here
EmoticonEmoticon