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| World Taekwondo President Choue Chung-won / Courtesy of World Taekwondo |
By Jung Min-ho
World Taekwondo (WT), the sport's global governing body, will invest in online training to keep coaches and athletes active amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A WT official told The Korea Times Monday (KST) that it will begin a two-day online seminar from Thursday to offer training and certification for coaches as part of efforts to keep them prepared and their spirits high ahead of the Tokyo Olympics next year.
At Friday's videoconference, WT President Choue Chung-won said he would not just sit back and wait for the crisis to end.
"The athletes' committee has a very important role to play in ensuring that WT continues to listen and represent the interests of the athletes," Choue said.
"We encourage the committee to share the views of the athletes on how we should safely return to training and competitions, and together with the medical committee we will use this to develop guidelines.
"We have also welcomed their feedback on how athletes are dealing with the current challenges and the ideas they can provide on how we can better help athletes manage their mental health."
He noted that WT is using this period to review all aspects of its management to ensure that, when the pandemic is over, taekwondo will emerge stronger than ever.
Pascal Gentil, who co-chairs the athletes' committee, welcomed the direction.
"I am very proud of the efforts of WT," he said. "I am happy that WT responded very quickly and adapted to the situation to provide online training for athletes and other support.
"For sure, we have challenges and Olympic qualification is one area we need to address, but as a former athlete I hope that Tokyo 2020 will take place next year in the most healthy and sustainable way."
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