London’s Copper Box and Manchester Arena to host flagship Taekwondo competitions

Three flagship Taekwondo competitions will be staged in England over the next three years following a successful bid from GB Taekwondo.

The package of events, which will be held ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, includes the hosting of two World Taekwondo Grand Prix Series in 2017 and 2018, in London’s Copper Box Arena and Manchester’s Regional Arena respectively.

Manchester will also host the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships after seeing off competition from Houston, Texas, USA. It will be staged in the Manchester Arena.

London’s hosting of the 2017 Grand Prix is the first time an international Taekwondo event has been held in the capital since the 2012 Olympic Games.

As part of the bidding process, GB Taekwondo made the commitment to invest in a four-year community Taekwondo programme to increase the profile of the sport in London and Manchester.

“Securing these events for the UK provides Taekwondo with a massive boost and a chance to drive real growth in the sport over the coming years, not just in London and Manchester, but right across the country,” said Steve Flynn, director of Taekwondo GB.

UK Sport chief operating officer Simon Morton confirmed that the staging of the events would be backed by National Lottery funding distributed by the elite sports quango.

Taekwondo GB’s bid was announced as the winning project during a World Taekwondo Federation Executive Council meeting in Burnaby, Canada.

The successful bids were put together in collaboration with UK Sport, Manchester City Council and the Mayor of London’s office.