The competition, promoted by the World Taekwondo Federation and which is part of UK Sport's Gold Event Series, will is due to take place on December 13 until 15 at Manchester Central and see more than 250 of the sport's top athletes battling it out for vital qualification points for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Britain's first Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones will make an appearance in Manchester and she is hoping for an atmosphere similar to the one that carried her to gold at London 2012 last summer.

"It's so exciting to have a major taekwondo event launch in Manchester," she said.

"This is a brilliant chance for people to revisit the buzz surrounding last year's Olympics and support what will be a great show of sporting talent.

"There really is nothing like performing in front of a passionate home crowd."

London 2012 taekwondo gold medallist Jade Jones and bronze medallist Lutalo Muhammad will compete at the Manchester Grand Prix


Also confirmed to lead the British charge at the Grand Prix are Michael Harvey and Lutalo Muhammad, who both took European gold in Manchester last year in the -63kg and -87kg categories respectively, with Muhammad also claiming bronze at London 2012 in the -80kg.

"Manchester is the home of GB Taekwondo and to launch such a highly anticipated event here is a real honour," GB Taekwondo performance director Gary Hall said.

"During London 2012 we saw incredible support for taekwondo and we expect the Grand Prix to be a really popular event.

"This is a great opportunity for sports fans to witness the athletes of Rio 2016 in action on our doorstep."

Taekwondo fans attending the event can choose from three types of tickets - day, night or a combined pass, with a choice of standard and premium seats available.

Tickets will be available for general sale through Ticketmaster from 11am local time next Monday and from the National Taekwondo Championships at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester next weekend (September 7 and 8).

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