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Taekwondo, which became an official sport for the first time at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, made its debut. It is considered to be more exciting than the Olympics.
This is Lee Jeong-chan, a reporter from Tokyo.
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Paralympic taekwondo received attention from the start.
Kudadadadi, who risked her life to escape Kabul and participated in the competition dramatically, left a big footprint as the first female paralympian in Afghanistan, and Hakijimana, who works as a Taekwondo instructor in a Rwanda refugee camp, also showed a kick of hope.
[Hakijima/Refugee Team Taekwondo Representative: Taekwondo gives us courage and joy.] At the
Paralympic Games, athletes with disabilities under both elbows or one arm compete in six integrated weight classes, and the excitement was more than that of the Olympics.
Unlike non-disabled games, which are criticized for 'monkey kick' and 'foot fencing' by embracing the opponent and raising the score with an anomalous attack, fist attacks are prohibited and only body attacks are recognized, so kicks come and go without stopping.
[Cho Jung-won/World Taekwondo Federation President: I think we can show the world such a dynamic form of Taekwondo. It can be seen as a very big
blessing for
people around the world who are training Taekwondo over obstacles.] In
Korea, only Joo Jeong-hoon, who lost his right hand in an accident when he was 2 years old, participates in the gold hunt.
However, there are also criticisms that the 'super country' neglected to foster disabled players because only one of our players participated this time.
It's a painful point.
(Video coverage: Kim Yong-woo, video editing: Kim Byeong-jik)