Nearly Olympic Conditions Buoy Taekwondo Test Event

(ATR) Representatives from the World Taekwondo Federation and Rio 2016 tell Around the Rings the Carioca Arena 1 experience shows the best is yet to come for the Games.

Taekwondo is holding a test event from Feb. 20-21 in the Olympic Park. Although the event is being held at Carioca Arena 1, the sport will be housed in the slightly smaller, but similarly set-up, Carioca Arena 3. Competing in the event are 64 athletes from 15 countries worldwide.

"This is a good opportunity to test everything including the level of the players, the video replays, and the position of the floor, so it was very interesting and very positive," Philippe Bouedo, technical delegate from the WTF, said to ATR.

"It was good opportunity for athletes to come and see what is going to happen here during the Games. All the teams wanted to come because it is a wonderful opportunity to see what exactly will happen with the same conditions [at the Olympics.]"

Bouedo added that only "small adjustments" will be needed to make sure that the Olympic taekwondo tournament meets federation and spectator standards.

"Of, course the full venue will bring big pressures and the best champions will be here, and of course the Olympic will create excitement."

Rio 2016 executive director of sport Agberto Guimarães echoed the WTF’s confidence, stressing the success previous test events have had at Carioca Arena 1. Basketball, powerlifting, and wrestling all held test events in the same arena according to Guimarães, and taekwondo will soon be added to that list.

"The arenas are pretty much the same in their format, and it doesn’t change much," Guimarães said to ATR. "We chose this one to test here to save some time and some money by putting the setup in one place.

"This is the biggest arena we have inside the park and to test to the full extent is good. We are learning some good lessons in terms of lighting and the flow of people in and out, so it is helping us quite a bit."

Athletes competing in Rio say tell ATR they can feel the energy of the upcoming Olympic Games even with less than six months before the flame is lit.

"The organization is super, everything is good," Yassine Trabelsi, an athlete from Tunisia said. "I think everything is ready for Rio. For me, it is good experience there to fight in the test event because it is very much like Olympic Games."

Evelyn Gonda, a competitor from Canada, said that although she will not be qualifying for the Rio Olympics, attending the test event allowed her to scout out the venue and help prepare her training partner.

"I think the majority of venues are ready," Gonda said. "Everyone has been really helpful and they get everything we need so it is great. Outside it kind of looks not all ready, but it looks great inside."

Below is a video of the current state of the Rio Olympic Park from the city government:

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.