The Olympic, Pan American and all other U.S. Taekwondo Sparring Teams are selected on the basis of the following:
1) The top 4 winners (1st, 2nd, two 3rd place) from each State Association Championship (Black Belt Sparring division only, excluding the junior and senior divisions) are invited to attend the annual U.S. National Taekwondo Championships. AND: The top winners (1st and 2nd) from the U.S. National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships and the U.S. Open Taekwondo Championships are also invited to attend the annual U.S. National Taekwondo Championships.
2) The top 2 winners (1st and 2nd) from the national championship, along with two wild cards are invited to attend the U.S. Team Trials.
3) The team trials are a round robin competition (every competitor fights each person in his weight division) and the competitor with the best score becomes the team member.
Competitions for the U.S. Taekwondo Team: Olympics World Taekwondo Championships World Games World Cup Pan American Taekwondo Championships Pan American Games International Exchange Program International Goodwill Matches.
The U.S. Junior Taekwondo Team is selected through the following procedure:
1) The top 4 winners (1st, 2nd, two 3rd place) from the State Association Taekwondo Championships (14-17 years old, Black Belt Sparring) are invited to attend the annual U.S. Junior National Taekwondo Championships.
2) The top winner in each division (14-17 years old, Black Belt Sparring) is selected as a U.S. Junior Taekwondo Team member.
Competitions for the U.S. Junior Taekwondo Team: International Junior Taekwondo Championships International Exchange Program International Goodwill Matches.
OLYMPIC and PAN AM GAMES SELECTION PROCESS
OVERVIEW
The Selection Process for the Pan Am Games is a simple two-fold process. An Open Pan Am Qualification Tournament and a Pan Am Final Team Trials competition.
The Pan Am Games Selection Process is a part of the overall 2004 Olympic Games Process.
The Olympic Games Selection Process is a two-fold process that includes the following:
* Qualifying the USA for Olympic Weight Categories (maximum 2 Male and 2 Female)
* Qualifying the athletes for the Olympic Team.
A) In the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, each country must qualify the weight categories in order to be able to compete at the Olympic Games. The maximum number of competitors that any country may have compete at the Olympic Games is 2 Male and 2 Female competitors. This is merely the maximum number of competitors allowed per country at the Olympic Games.
There will be approximately 104 Taekwondo competitors at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Calendar Year 2003 will be devoted to qualifying the Olympic Weight Categories in which the USA will be able to compete at the 2004 Olympic Games.
The USA will host a series of competitions in an effort to select the best athletes to compete at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. That process is outlined in the following.
OLYMPIC TEAM SELECTION PROCESS
Phase 1: 2003 - Qualifying the Weight Class
This phase of the process is to select the athlete(s) who earn the opportunity to qualify the weight classes in which the USA athletes will be allowed to compete in the 2004 Olympic Games.
Step 1: (April 2003) Pan Am Games Open Qualification Tournament
* Date and Site: COS, Co April 5-6, 2003
* Open to any USTU member Black Belt competitor
* All competitors are responsible for expenses for this competition
* Single Elimination Competition
* Top 4 competitors in each of the Pan Am Weight Categories earn a sopt in the USA Competition Pool
NOTE: An AD Hoc Committe may select additional athletes to add to the USA Competition Pool following the Pan Am Qualification Tournament in March.
In order to gain "Wild Card" consideration, those athletes added must have been a USA National Team member within the past three years.
Step 2: (May 2003) USTU Senior National Championship
* Date and Site: May 21-25, 2003 New Orleans, LA
* Single Elimination Competition
* Athletes must qualify by placing 1st, 2nd or one of two 3rd places in Sparring Competition at either a USTU State Championship, NCTA National Championship, Armed Forces Championship, or AAU National Championship.
* Top four competitors in each of the official eight weight categories will qualify for US National Team Trials
* All athletes are responsible for all expenses incurred for this competition.
Step 3: (June 2003) Pam Am Games Team Trials
* Date and Site: Site TBD June 14-15, 2003
* Round Robin Competition + Finals
* Winner of the greatest number of matches will be the 2003 Pan Am Games Team Member; Athletes who finish in the order of 2nd through 4th (or 5th, in the case of a Wild Card Participant) will remain in the USA Competition Pool.
* All competitors are responsible for their own expenses for this competition
* Winner of the Pan Am Games Team Trial will represent the USA at the 2003 Pan Am Games in Dominican Republic in August 2003.
Step 4: (July 2003) USTU National Team Trials
* Date and Site: July 5-6, 2003 Orlando, FL
* Double Elimination Tournament, Additionally, the WINNER of the Loser's Bracket must defeat the WINNER of the Winner's Bracket twice. The WINNER of the Winner's Bracket must only defeat the WINNER of the Loser's Bracket once.
* The winners in each of the official eight weight categories will comprise the 2003 USA National Team and will represent the USA at the World Championship in Germany in September, 2003.
* All athletes are responsible for all expenses incurred for this competition.
Step 5: (August 2003) Pan Am Games
* The USA Pan Am Games Team, selected in Step 3 of this process, will compete at the Pan Am Games in the Dominican Republic.
* Competition Results will be discussed and considered by the USTU Ad Hoc Committee in order to make a determination of which Olympic Weight Categories should be contested by the USA
* Priority consideration will be given to weight categories in which the USA earns a Gold Medal.
Step 6: (September 2003) World Championships
* The 2003 USA National Team selected in Step 4 of this process will compete at the World Championships in Germany in September 2003.
* Competition Results will be discussed and considered by the USTU Ad Hoc Committee in order to make a determination of which Olympic Weight Categories should be contested by the USA.
* Priority consideration will be given to weight categories in which the USA earns a Gold Medal.
Step 7: (October 2003) Olympic Weight Class Fight-Off
* The USTU Ad Hoc Committee will decide and announce which two Olympic Weight Classes will be contested by the USA.
* A Round Robin Competition will take place in those selected weight classes between members of the 2003 Pan Am Games Team and the 2003 USTU National Team who are in the selected weight categories.
* Date and Site: Date TBD OTC, COS
* The winner in the selected two weight categories male and two weight categories female will represent the USA at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Paris, France in December 2003.
* All athletes are responsible for all expenses incurred for this competition.
Step 8: (December 2003) World Olympic Qualification Tournament
* Any USA athletes who succeeds in qualifying his/her weight class will earn a berth an Finalist (Number 1 Seed) in the Final Olympic Team Trials.
* If an athlete does not succeed in qualifying his/her weight class at the World Qualification Tournament he/she returns to the USA Competition Pool.
Step 9: (January 2004) Pan Am Regional Fight-Off
* Competitors in the USA Competition Pool will have a Fight-off in those weight categories that were not qualified at the World Qualification Tournament in December.
* Winners at the Fight-off will compete at the Pan Am Regional Olympic Qualification Tournament.
* Round Robin Competition in the 2 Selected Weight Categories Male and the 2 Selected Weight Categories Female. The competitor from the World Qualification Tournament will be seeded #1 at this Fight-off. The other competitors ( 2 through 5) will compete in match order.
* Date and Site: Early January OTC, COS
Step 10: (January 2004) Pan Am Regional Olympic Qualification Tournament
* A maximum of two male and two female competitors will compete in this event as a last opportunity to qualify weight classes in which the USA may field competitors at the 2004 Olympic Games.
* Single Elimination Competition
* Winners succeed in qualifying the Weight Category for the USA
NOTE: In the event that the USA fails to qualify a weight category at either the World Qualificaiton Tournaemnt or at the Pan Am Regional Olympic Qualification Tournament, then the USA will not have a representative in the 2004 Olympic Games.
There would be a potential to receive a "Wild Card" to participate in whatever weight category the WTF selects. There would be no guarantees of receiving a "Wild Card," however.
PHASE II: Select the Athlete
Step 1: (March 2004) Open US Olympic Qualification Tournament
* Single Elimination Tournament in the Olympic Weights that have been qualified either at the World Qualification Tournament or at the Pan Am Regional Qualification Tournament.
* Top two competitors are added to the USA Competition Pool from Phase I,
Step 1:
* Date and Site: TBD
* Open to any USTU Black Belt member
* All athletes are responsible for expenses incurred for this tournament.
Step 2: (March 2004) Round Robin Competition (Competition Pool Athletes only)
* Winner of this Round Robin Competition plus the competitor who successfully qualified the weight category will be the finalists for that particular weight category.
* Both of the finalists will go to European Open competitions to gain experience prior to their Final Fight-off.
Step 3: (June 2004) Final Team Trials
* 2nd Place competitor must defeat the 1st Place competitor twice
* 1st Place competitor need only defeat the 2nd place competitor once
* Winner represents the USA Taekwondo Team at the 2004 Olympics.
