Melbourne’s Stacey Hymer returns to the competition floor in Paris 2024 in the -57kg weight class. She will be joined by debutants Bailey Lewis (-58kg) and Leon Sejranovic (-80kg).
Overview
The Australian Taekwondo Team for Paris 2024 Olympic Games will see two new faces with Bailey Lewis and Leon Sejranovic making their Olympic debut. Joining them is Tokyo 2020 Olympian Stacey Hymer.
Stacey will be competing in the 57kg group, while Bailey will be taking part in -58kg and Leon in the -80kg.
The athletes earned a quota for Australia by winning the continental qualifying event in Solomon Islands earlier this year.
Stacey, Leon and Bailey are all multiple Australian and Oceania champions. Leon ended a decade-long Taekwondo World Championships medal drought for Australians last year, winning bronze in the 74kg division. Bailey is a two-time Paris Grand Prix bronze medallist.
Australia has a proud history in the sport. In 2000, Australia’s Daniel Trenton also won silver in the heavyweight class and at Athens 2004.
Ones to Watch
Australia
Bailey has proven he is cool under pressure and is capable of beating the best of the best. He secured a place at the Paris Games at an Oceania Olympic qualifying tournament in Honiara, Solomon Islands, in early 2024. With only the highest-placed athlete in each weight class qualifying, Bailey had to win gold in the -58kg division to make the cut. He defeated home favourite Isaac Myrie in the gold-medal match.
International
Reigning Olympic champion Vito Dell'Aquila has remained strong in the sport since Tokyo 2020, winning the 2022 World Championships. Athletes from both Korea and Hungary have been at the top of the results in recent competition, with Korea’s Tae-Joon Park securing the World Championship in Baku 2023.
Sport Format
The taekwondo competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games consists of four weight categories for both men and women:
- Men’s -58kg
- Men’s -68kg
- Men’s -80kg
- Men’s +80kg
- Women’s -49kgs
- Women’s -57kgs
- Women’s -67kgs
- Women’s +67kgs
There are 16 athletes competing in each weight category, except for selected weight categories, where 17 or more athletes may compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Each weight category consists of a single elimination tournament. For the categories with 17 or more athletes, qualification contests will take place before the round of 16. The winner of the final contest will be awarded the gold medal and the loser will be awarded the silver medal.
The contestants from each pool who lost to the finalists in the round of 16 and the quarterfinals will meet in the repechage rounds. The winners advance to the bronze-medal contests, the losers are eliminated.
If the winner of the qualification contest advances to the finals, there is an additional repechage contest between the loser of the qualification contest and the loser of the round of 16. The winner of this contest competes with the loser of the quarterfinal.
The losers from the semifinals advance directly to the bronze-medal contests, where they will compete against the winner of the repechage round from the opposite pool. The winners will each be awarded a bronze medal.
Schedule
The Taekwondo competition will be held at the Grand Palais venue in Paris from 7 August.
