The OTU is pleased to announce that at the recent general assembly of the Pacific Games Council held in Palau, a decision was made to confirm Taekwondo as a compulsory sport, and this will apply at least until the Tonga 2031 Pacific Games. Australia and New Zealand will again be invited to the 2027 games to be held in Tahiti.
The OTU will also be invited to lodge a submission in support of including Para Taekwondo on the 2027 Pacific Games program.
President John Kotsifas stated- “ This is great news for our sport and our Oceania athletes and reinforces Taekwondo’s compulsory sport status on the Pacific Games program. However, we must not be complacent in our endeavours to develop and promote our sport as one of the leading sports in the Oceania region. The challenge now is to ensure we secure Para Taekwondo on the 2027 Tahiti Pacific Games program so that our para athletes can also enjoy access to Pacific Games competition. To do this, we must ensure that we continue to identify and develop para athletes at all levels including junior and senior athletes for 2027 and the Para Olympic Games in 2028.”
President Kotsifas also stated – “ It is also crucial that we work with member nations that have not been active to start to prepare for 2027, 2028 and also for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games. We have identified who these member nations are and why we do not have an active Taekwondo presence in these countries however, we plan to implement our development strategy in early 2025 which will ensure that all Oceania member nations are strongly represented in future Pacific Games. The identification and staged development of cadet and junior athletes who can compete at the 2027 and 2031 Pacific Games is also fundamental to our 2032 step up development plan where we hope to see Oceania athletes on the Olympic medal podium”.
The OTU extends its gratitude to the Pacific Games Council for its confidence and support of Oceania Taekwondo.