Taekwondo factbox for Athens 2004

ATHENS, July 12 (Reuters) -- Factbox on taekwondo at the August 13-29 Athens Olympics:

HISTORY

The martial art of taekwondo traces its origins back 2,000 years to Korea. The World Taekwondo Federation was formed in 1973 and the first world championships were held in the same year.

Taekwondo featured as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona Games and was included as an Olympic competition for the first time in Sydney in 2000.

EVENTS

Four weight categories in men's events and four in women's. Preliminaries, repechage, bronze-medal matches and gold-medal contests in each class will be held on a single day.

2000 CHAMPIONS

Men

Under 58 kg: Michail Mouroutsos (Greece)

Under 68kg: Steven Lopez (U.S.)

Under 80kg: Angel Valodia Matos Fuentes (Cuba)

Over 80kg: Kim Kyong-hun (South Korea)

Women

Under 49kg: Lauren Burns (Australia)

Under 57kg: Jung Jae-eun (South Korea)

Under 67kg: Lee Sun-hee (South Korea)

Over 67kg: Chen Zhong (China)

OLYMPIC PROGRAMME

August 26: Women's under 49kg

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Men's under 58kg

August 27: Women's under 57 kg

Men's under 68kg

August 28: Women's under 67kg

Men's under 80kg

August 29: Women's over 67kg

Men's over 80kg

VENUE

The new, 8,010-seat Sports Pavilion at the Faliro Coastal

Zone Olympic Complex near Piraeus.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

www.wtf.org

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