2004 olympic tae kwon do athlete profile

The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of Tae kwon do champions (gold, silver, and bronze medalists) who competed in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games (N = 124) and compare these characteristics to those who competed but did not earn medals. All the data for the study was obtained from the official website of the 2004 Olympic Games www.athens2004.com and the following information was collected: weight category, weight, height, age, country representation, total points from kicks per weight category, total points from punches per weight category, total penalties per weight category, and type of win. The following descriptive statistics were calculated for each athlete according to gender: age, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI). No statistically significant differences exist between winners and non-winners with respect to age, height, weight and gender. Overall, male winners versus non-winners were similar in age and female winners were younger than the average age in their respective weight category. Male and female winners had a taller average height compared to male and female non-winners. The average BMI of male and female winners was less than non-winners. Females were eight times more likely to win by superiority than males. Overall, 100% of techniques used to score were by kicks. Specifically, males and females used one-point offensive and defensive kicks more than two-point offensive kicks to score. Males had more average kyong-go (half point warning) and gam-jeom (full point deduction) warning deductions per match versus females, thus demonstrating a more aggressive style of combat. In addition, males had a total of four knock downs during the entire competition, one in each weight category, whereas there were no knock downs among females, again suggesting a more aggressive fighting style among males.