Keeping track of who is winning, where, and why it matters. The sport is mid-cycle now, three years out from LA 2028, and the ranking race has already started. This is the page I update when a Grand Prix wraps up.
(y-) The Landscape Right Now
We are in the first full season after the Paris 2024 champions cashed out and a new wave started stacking ranking points. Türkiye, South Korea, and Iran are still the deepest programs, but Brazil, Uzbekistan, and Tunisia have all pushed athletes onto the top step this cycle. The G-ranked circuit (Grand Prix G-6, Grand Slam, Opens from G-1 to G-2) is where the Olympic ranking points get earned, and World Taekwondo reshaped the points cycle for the LA 2028 qualification window, so nobody can coast on an old result anymore.
(y-) 2025 World Championships (Wuxi)
The 27th World Championships ran 24 to 30 October 2025 in Wuxi, China, with 853 athletes from 145 nations. Türkiye topped the table with three golds, ahead of South Korea and Brazil on two apiece. Reigning Olympic names got tested, and several did not survive their own draw.
Gold Medalists
| Division | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Finweight | Seo Eun-su (KOR) | Emine Göğebakan (TUR) |
| Flyweight | Abolfazl Zandi (IRI) | Liu You-yun (TPE) |
| Bantamweight | Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi (TUN) | Merve Dinçel (TUR) |
| Featherweight | Banlung Tubtimdang (THA) | Maria Clara Pacheco (BRA) |
| Lightweight | Najmiddin Kosimkhojiev (UZB) | Wafa Masghouni (TUN) |
| Welterweight | Henrique Marques (BRA) | Luana Márton (HUN) |
| Middleweight | Seif Eissa (EGY) | Sarah Chaâri (BEL) |
| Heavyweight | Kang Sang-hyun (KOR) | Nafia Kuş (TUR) |
Abolfazl Zandi went through the flyweight bracket without dropping a single round, which is the kind of run that resets a division’s pecking order.
(y-) 2026 Grand Prix Series
The Grand Prix Series is the G-6 top tier: Roma, Paris, and Muju (Taekwondowon) are the confirmed legs this year, feeding into the Grand Slam. These are the events that actually move the Olympic ranking.
Roma Grand Prix (G-6, Foro Italico, 5 to 7 June 2026)
This was the first event run under the new combat rules (see (y-) Modern Competition Rules), and it showed. Chaos in a couple of the men’s brackets, top seeds holding firm in the women’s.
| Division | Gold | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| M -58 kg | Vito Dell’Aquila (ITA) | Home-crowd final to close the event out |
| M -68 kg | Berkay Erer (TUR) | Türkiye’s featherweight depth again |
| M -80 kg | Juan Antonio Milán Cánovas (ESP) | Won as the 27th seed, the upset of the weekend |
| M +80 kg | Rafail Aiukaev (AIN) | Lost round one of the final, came back to win |
| W -49 kg | Alisa Angelova (AIN) | |
| W -57 kg | Maria Clara Pacheco (BRA) | Backing up her Wuxi world title |
| W -67 kg | Viviana Márton (HUN) | |
| W +67 kg | Kimi Laurène Ossin (CIV) | Côte d’Ivoire on the top step |
A 27th seed winning a G-6 is exactly the sort of thing the wider point gap and the tightened boundary rule were supposed to enable: more athletes staying live deeper into brackets.
(y-) The -80 kg Watch (why I care)
I train and follow the welterweight-ish middle divisions, and M -80 kg is the one I actually study. CJ Nickolas (USA) sits near the top of that class as one of the most aggressive, volume-heavy fighters in the sport, which is the exact style I try to steal from in (y-) Sparring. Rome went to Milán Cánovas from an absurd seed, which tells you how open the division is heading toward LA 2028. Nobody owns it yet.
(y-) Road to LA 2028
- Ranking cycle reset. World Taekwondo changed how Olympic ranking points accumulate for the LA 2028 window, so results from this season carry real weight rather than sitting behind old Tokyo and Paris-era points.
- Grand Prix is king. G-6 events pay the most points. Miss them and you are climbing uphill through G-1 and G-2 Opens.
- New rules reward pressure. The wider 15-point gap and the double-value gam-jeom in the last ten seconds punish stalling, which favors the forward-pressure styles.
Sources
- 2025 Wuxi World Taekwondo Championships results (Olympics.com)
- Roma 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix results (MasTKD)
- World Taekwondo Grand Prix Series
- World Taekwondo changes Olympic ranking points cycle
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