#49: Anna Vassallo Elected As WT Commonwealth Vice President

MTA President Anna Vassallo, who is also the current European Vice President and WT council member, has been elected vice president of the WT Commonwealth committee.

The election occurred in Chuncheon, South Korea during the 2024 Taekwondo Junior World Championships, and Vassallo was voted-in unanimously.

Taekwondo is a popular sport across the Commonwealth. So much so, that 88% of all Commonwealth countries practice the sport and have an established taekwondo national association. This led to the WT initiative rolling its way into a fully-fledged association.

Since taekwondo is relatively accessible and doesn’t require a great infrastructure, this initiative represents a good medal opportunity for smaller nations at the Commonwealth Games, which provides a rather wide medal spread. It also provides equal opportunities for male and female athletes with an equal split of medals for both genders as well as an equal gender split for referees.

The first Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships were held in Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) on 14 and 15 October 2006. The next edition was held in 2008 (November 21-23) at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). The third edition, which also featured in Canada, included Sparring, Poomsae, and Creative Poomsae.

The Commonwealth consists of 56 independent countries, almost all of which were formerly under British rule. With so many countries under the WT umbrella, the possibilities are endless.