The Para Taekwondo season is getting busier with four events lined up in Pan America, Europe and Asia.  Top Para Taekwondo athletes including Paralympic and World champion will be in action doing their final preparation before the Paralympic Games in Paris, this August.

The action started with the Pan Am Para Taekwondo Championships, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on May 3, 2024 which have 63 athletes (27 female and 36 male) from 14+1 countries in action.

Among the top names in action are: USA's Evan Medell (men's +80 kg), the Para Pan Am Games champion, Leonor Angelica Espinoza Carranza, Peru's Paralympic champion, and Mexico's Claudia Romero, ParaPan Am Games silver medallist and winner of Taiyuan and Paris 2023 GP in 2023, and refugee athlete Zakia Khudadadi, European Para Championships champion, all three women competing in K44 women's -47kg.

There will be local stars too including Paralympic champion Nathan Torquato (men's -63kg) and Worlds stars Maria Eduarda Machado Stumpf (women's -52kg), Silvana Mayara Cardoso Fernandes (women's -57kg) and Debora Menezes (women's +65kg), a silver medallist at ParaPan Am Games and bronze medallist a Worlds. 

This will be followed by Rio Para Taekwondo Open Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on May 5, 2024, contested by 48 athletes (19 female and 44 male) from 9 countries.

The focus will then move to Europe, with the European Para Taekwondo Championships in Belgrade, Serbia from May 9 to 12, 2024. The event, which will be held parallelly to the European Taekwondo Championships. will be contested by 89 athletes (38 females and 51 men) from 23 countries + 2 refugees + AIN athletes.

The field will have Paralympic and World stars including Turkey's stars Ali Can Ozcan (men's -58kg), European champion and bronze medallist at Worlds, Fatih Celik (men's -70 kg), Taiyuan and Paris 2023 champion and Mahmut Bozteke (men's -63kg), winner of Taiyuan 2023 GP and Manchester 2023 GP, Italy's Antonino Bossolo (men's -63kg), world champion and Paris 2023 GP champion, Israel's Asaf Yasur (M-58kg), world champion and Manchester 2023 and Taiyuan 2023 champion among others.

The women's field looks strong too with the likes of Great Britain's Paralympic stars Amy Truesdale (women's +65kg), Veracruz 2023 world champion, Beth Munro (W -65kg), Manchester and Taiyuan 2023 GP champion and Worlds silver medallist, Turkey's Gamze Gurdal (women's -57 kg), European champion and World silver medallist among others.

The month will culminate with the 9th Asian Para Taekwondo Open Championships in Da Nang, Vietnam on May 19, 2024 which will have 118 athletes (37 female and 81 male) from 25+1 countries.

Asian Para Games champions Bolor-Erdene Ganbat from Mongolia (M-63kg) and Uzbekistan's Guljonoy Naimova (W +65kg), also winner of Taiyuan and Manchester 2023 Grand Prix, will lead the star-studded field in De Nang.

Among other players include Uzbekistan's world champion Asadbek Toshtemirov, Korea's Asian Para Games champion Jeonghun Joo and Iran's Alireza Bakht (both competing in M-80kg).

Four athletes will represent their country at the Paris 2024 Taekwondo tournament. France announced its squad for the taekwondo tournament on May 3.

Five Taekwondo athletes were named by International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take part at the Paris 2024. With five athletes, Taekwondo is the third most represented sport in the team. The addition of five refugee athletes will result in the largest number of Taekwondo athletes ever at an Olympic Games with more than 130 due to compete in Paris.

Australian Taekwondo has appointed Josh O'Brien to the role of Chief Executive Officer. O'Brien comes to Australian Taekwondo from Basketball ACT where he held the position of Chief Operating Officer.

The 2024 edition of the World Taekwondo President's Cup - Europe was held in Tallinn, Estonia on 26-28 April. The adult division had some star names among the participants.

The Oceania Taekwondo Union (OTU) Management Committee recently met with Atma Maharaj, the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) Programme Lead for the Brisbane 2032 Programme, in Brisbane. 

On May 1st, Rio de Janeiro will become the epicentre of action, hosting the prestigious Pan American Poomsae Championships, an event that has attracted the attention of the Pan American family.

The second edition of the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) Hope and Dreams Sports Festival is set to take place in Jordan on May 1-3 and refugees will be offered another opportunity to experience sports.

Rio 2016 bronze medallist Alizadeh, who fled Iran and represented the Refugee Olympic Team (EOR) at Tokyo three years ago, has obtained Bulgarian citizenship. She will compete under her new country's flag at Paris 2024.

The Gulf Youth Games Taekwondo competitions kicked off with great enthusiasm, with 124 male and female competitors taking part. Ahmed Hamdan Al Zeyoudi, the President of the UAE Taekwondo Federation graced the occasion in the presence of the heads of other Gulf federations.

In February 2024, Insidethegames reported on the situation in Taekwondo New Zealand. Athletes who were due to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Qualification Tournament were told by the Oceania Taekwondo Union (OTU) that the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) "will not be nominating any taekwondo athletes to compete at the Paris Olympic Games as there is no recognised organisation for the sport of taekwondo in New Zealand".

In an unprecedented sporting showcase, the Dominican Republic has been the epicentre of sporting excellence, successfully hosting three internationally renowned events: the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifier, the Paralympic Qualifier and the prestigious Dominican Open.

Team USA will field a four-man taekwondo team at Paris 2024. CJ Nicholas, silver medallist at the 2022 World Championships, qualified for the Olympic Games via the Olympic rankings in the men's -80kg.

Taekwondo Canada national team member Josipa Kafadar earned a spot on Canada's Olympic taekwondo team at the Pan American qualifying tournament in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Following the Pan American Taekwondo Qualification Tournament in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic hosted the Paralympic Qualification Tournament on 11 April.