United Kingdom | 2011 | 50 Pence | Taekwondo | Summer Olympics 2012

 Summer Olympics 2012


Taekwondo


  


Taekwondo at the 2012 London Olympics took place from 8 to 11 August at ExCeL London, featuring 128 athletes competing in eight weight categories equally divided between men and women. Each nation could enter a maximum of four athletes, limiting participation to half of the weight divisions. Four host nation places and four invitational spots were reserved, while the remaining quotas were allocated through qualification tournaments.

To address past controversies, the World Taekwondo Federation introduced electronic scoring and instant video replays to improve fairness. The competition was notable for awarding gold medals to athletes from eight different nations, marking a decline in South Korea’s traditional dominance as Europe led the medal tally. Several legendary athletes were eliminated early, while historic achievements included Afghanistan’s Rohullah Nikpai defending his bronze medal and Gabon’s Anthony Obame winning the country’s first Olympic medal in taekwondo.


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