Guadalajara’s renown as an international sporting hub has risen a few notches following the announcement that this city will host the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships from November 13 to 20.
The event was rescheduled after being postponed last year in Wuxi, China, due to the Covid pandemic.
This competition is held every two years and is organized by the World Taekwondo Federation, which embraces 211 affiliate member nations. The men’s event has been held since 1973 and the women’s since 1987. South Korea, the undisputed Taekwondo superpower, leads at the all-time medal table with 239 medals—171 of them golds. The closest nations are Spain with 22 gold medals and Chinese Taipei with 15.
Mexico is in 12th place in the all-time medal table, with 68: four golds, 30 silvers and 34 bronzes.
Although Wuxi could have held the event his year, the Chinese city decided to withdraw, after which Guadalajara was named as replacement tournament hosts.
The World Taekwondo Championships will come less than a month after the city hosts the first Guadalajara Akron Open, a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 category event featuring many of the world’s top female players.