The third World Taekwondo Virtual Championships will be held at the Taekwondowon in Muju, North Jeolla Province, in June next year.
World Taekwondo (WT) signed a host city agreement for the "Muju Taekwondowon 2027 World Taekwondo Virtual Championships" with the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, the Korea Taekwondo Association and Muju County at the Taekwondowon on the 5th.
The signing ceremony was attended by WT President Chungwon Choue, WT Vice President and Korea Taekwondo Association President Yang Jin-bang, and Taekwondo Promotion Foundation Chairman Kim Joong-heon.
Virtual taekwondo is a new form of the sport that combines physical movement with virtual reality (VR) and motion tracking technology. Competitors' movements are rendered in a virtual environment in real time as they face off against opponents.
Virtual taekwondo made its international debut at the Olympic Esports Week held in Singapore in 2023. The first World Taekwondo Virtual Championships followed in Singapore in 2024.
On October 2, the discipline will be contested as one of the official medal events in taekwondo at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
It marks the first time virtual taekwondo will be held as an official medal event at the Asian Games or any comprehensive international sporting event.
Sixteen athletes will compete in a single-elimination tournament at this year's event for the inaugural title.
"Starting with the Asian Games, we are continuing discussions to have virtual taekwondo adopted as an official event at major comprehensive international sporting events, including the European Games," Choue said. "We plan to expand participation to a range of international competitions, including the World University Games."
