The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) has sponsored three teams suffering from limited financial means to Korea on the "Booyoung Taekwondo Dream Program" which is titled after WTF’s global partnership Booyoung, for intensive taekwondo training in the run-up to the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.
The teams invited are from Cambodia, Jordan and Nepal. Nepalese athlete received Tripartite Commission "Wild Card" invitation to the Rio Olympic Games; the Cambodian and Jordanian athletes qualified via the Continental Qualification Tournaments.
The program runs from June 15 to July 12, with a total of nine athletes and coaches participating. Heading up the training was Yongin University Taekwondo Professor Yong-taek Kwak. Training took place at four locations nationwide that are famed for taekwondo: Korea National Sports University, Kyunghee University, Yongin University, the Samsung S1 Training Center.
Mr. Yong Sok Choi, the coach of Seavmey Sorn (W +67kg) of Cambodia, also participated in the program stating that "Sorn is the first Cambodian athlete to qualify for the Olympics through her own effort, rather than wild card, making Sorn like a hero in the country." Sorn
won gold in the 2014 Asian Games and was the first Cambodian to place in the Asian Games. She qualified to compete in the Rio Olympics when she won gold in the Asian Qualification Tournament in April.
The participants also visited the 2016 Korea Open International Taekwondo Championships in Gyeongju as spectators. On June 24, the visitors visited the WTF headquarters in Seoul where they were greeted by WTF President Chungwon Choue.
"I hope this program has upgraded your skills in preparation for the greatest sporting event on earth," Choue said to the athletes. "I must also thank our partner Booyoung for its generosity in providing this opportunity, and Professor Kwak and the institutions whichoffered their facilities."
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