WTF'S 2012 MEDICAL REPORT: LOW INJURY RATE CONTINUES TO FALL

WTF’S 2012 MEDICAL REPORT: LOW INJURY RATE CONTINUES TO FALL

Report highlights 18.4% reduction in taekwondo injury rate since 2008-2009 season

14 December 2012; Lausanne: The World Taekwondo Federation [WTF] today launched its much anticipated 2012 Medical Report, which proves unequivocally that taekwondo is among the safest contact sports on the Olympic Programme with an injury rate at an all-time low of just 0.31%.

The 2012 WTF Medical Report underlines the compelling statistics from the London 2012 Olympic taekwondo and WTF World Cup Team Taekwondo competitions this year: zero knock-outs; zero serious injuries; and zero fights forfeited due to injury sustained during competition. The report draws on independent statistics from the Mutuelle des Sportifs health insurance provider in France that show injuries among taekwondo practitioners have dropped consistently year-on-year for the last four years. From slightly fewer than four athletes in every 1,000 suffering injuries in competition or training in the 2008-2009 season, the injury rate has since fallen by 18.4%. The 2010 adjustment to the rules, which now award points for just a light touch to the head, have accelerated the trend, with a 16.2% reduction in the last two seasons alone taking the overall rate down to 0.31%.

Speaking from the WTF’s Lausanne headquarters, Secretary General Jean-Marie Ayer said:

"We are delighted with the findings of this study. Overall, it proves that taekwondo is a safe sport that is getting safer by the year. It is particularly pleasing to see that our rule changes have had the positive impact on athletes’ welfare that we were looking for: now that points can be scored with just a light touch to the head, accuracy and speed are more important than impact. We have all but eliminated knock-outs – the phrase is not even in our competition vocabulary any more. Simultaneously, we have made taekwondo a faster, more exciting spectacle for fans and a safer, more accessible sport for athletes."

The number of serious injuries (e.g. head injuries) was consistently low throughout the period of the study. In the 2011-2012 season in France, there was just one reported knock-out among 52,397 registered taekwondo practitioners.

Dr Paul Viscogliosi, Chairman of the WTF Medical Commission, said:

"Taekwondo has been traditionally classified a ‘mild risk’ sport by health insurers, but that has not stopped the WTF from continually innovating and evolving the sport to improve the welfare of our athletes. State-of-the-art protective wear and amendments to the rules have helped push the overall injury rate down by nearly a fifth since 2008-2009. Now the WTF is at an advanced stage of developing electronic protective and scoring headgear, which should make athletes of all ages and abilities even safer."

The full 2012 WTF Medical Report will be available to download from www.wtf.org/ on Monday 17 December 2012.