Mason: Weekly Blog #1

     Taekwondo

     The event I chose is Taekwondo.  It lasts from August 8th to the 11th.  It is done by weight classes.  Every day is a new weight class competition.  The weight classes for men are -58 kg, -68 kg, -80 kg and +80 kg.  The weight classes for women are -49 kg, -57 kg, -67 kg and +67 kg.  Taekwondo at the London 2012 Olympics will be in a building calld ExCel.  It is the largest venue in London.  It has five arenas in it  where they have more events: boxing, judo, table tennis, wresting, fencing and weight lifting.  ExCel was built in 2001 and it was a conference center.  Then in 2011 it was expanded for the Olympics.
     Taekwondo is one of two martial arts in the Olympics, the other one is judo.  In 1988 in the Seoul, Korea games taekwondo was shown as a demonstration.  Men's and women's taekwondo became an official medal sport at the 2000 Sydney, Australia games.  Korea has won the most medals, 12.  The USA has won 6 medals.
     Aaron Cook from Great Britian is number one in taekwondo in the world,  but he will not come to the 2012 Olympic games because he didn't qualify. South Korea is expected to win and get the gold medal.  The US team is: Terrence Jennings and he is 25 years old, Diana Lopez and she is 28, Steven Lopez and he is 33 and Paige McPherson and she is 21.  Their coaches are Jean Lopez and he is 38 and Juan Moreno and he is 41.

     The reason I think that taekwondo in the Olympics it is interesting because I never knew it was a sport for the Olympics.