# World Taekwondo Championships

The World Taekwondo Championship is held every two years by World Taekwondo. In addition to the kyorugi (full contact fighting) Championships, there are also Para World Championships as well as Poomsae and Para Poomsae Championships held every two years.

## Competitions

| Year | Date | City and host country | Venue | Men's champion | Women's champion |
| 1973 | May 25–27 | Seoul, South Korea | Kukkiwon | South Korea | |
| 1975 | August 28–31 | Seoul, South Korea | Jangchung Arena | South Korea | |
| 1977 | September 15–17 | Chicago, United States | International Amphitheatre | South Korea | |
| 1979 | October 26–28 | Stuttgart, West Germany | Glaspalast Sindelfingen | South Korea | |
| 1982 | February 24–27 | Guayaquil, Ecuador | Coliseo Cerrado | South Korea | |
| 1983 | October 20–23 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Brøndbyhallen | South Korea | |
| 1985 | September 4–8 | Seoul, South Korea | Jamsil Arena | South Korea | |
| 1987 | October 7–11 | Barcelona, Spain | Palau dels Esports | South Korea | South Korea |
| 1989 | October 9–14 | Seoul, South Korea | Jamsil Arena | South Korea | South Korea |
| 1991 | October 28 – November 3 | Athens, Greece | Peace and Friendship Stadium | South Korea | South Korea |
| 1993 | August 19–23 | New York City, United States | Madison Square Garden | South Korea | South Korea |
| 1995 | November 17–21 | Manila, Philippines | Folk Arts Theater | South Korea | South Korea |
| 1997 | November 19–23 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong Coliseum | South Korea | South Korea |
| 1999 | June 2–6 | Edmonton, Canada | Universiade Pavilion | South Korea | South Korea |
| 2001 | November 1–7 | Jeju, South Korea | Halla Gymnasium | South Korea | South Korea |
| 2003 | September 24–28 | Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany | Olympia-Eissport-Zentrum | South Korea | South Korea |
| 2005 | April 13–17 | Madrid, Spain | Palacio de Deportes | South Korea | South Korea |
| 2007 | May 18–22 | Beijing, China | Changping Gymnasium | South Korea | South Korea |
| 2009 | October 14–18 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Ballerup Super Arena | South Korea | China |
| 2011 | May 1–6 | Gyeongju, South Korea | Gyeongju Indoor Stadium | Iran | South Korea |
| 2013 | July 15–21 | Puebla, Mexico | Exhibition Center of Puebla | South Korea | South Korea |
| 2015 | May 12–18 | Chelyabinsk, Russia | Traktor Ice Arena | Iran | South Korea |
| 2017 | June 24–30 | Muju, South Korea | Taekwondowon | South Korea | South Korea |
| 2019 | May 15–19 | Manchester, United Kingdom | Manchester Arena | South Korea | South Korea |
| 2022 | November 13–20 | Guadalajara, Mexico$^1$ | CODE Metropolitano | South Korea | Mexico |
| 2023 | May 29 – June 6 | Baku, Azerbaijan | Baku Crystal Hall | South Korea | Turkey |
| 2025 | | Wuxi, China | | | |
$^1$ Wuxi, China, was originally selected to host the 2021 World Taekwondo Championships. Due to the impact of the Global COVID-19 pandemic, Wuxi gave up hosting the World Taekwondo Championship. In Early 2022, Guadalajara, Mexico was selected as a replacement host and the 2025 championship was scheduled to be held in Wuxi, China, instead.

## All-time medal table

Updated after the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | South Korea | 176 | 35 | 37 | 248 |
| 2 | Spain | 23 | 29 | 68 | 120 |
| 3 | Turkey | 18 | 22 | 37 | 77 |
| 4 | Chinese Taipei | 15 | 29 | 40 | 84 |
| 5 | Iran | 15 | 21 | 27 | 63 |
| 6 | United States | 14 | 22 | 49 | 85 |
| 7 | China | 14 | 17 | 18 | 49 |
| 8 | France | 8 | 11 | 17 | 36 |
| 9 | Great Britain | 8 | 10 | 13 | 31 |
| 10 | Mexico | 7 | 32 | 37 | 76 |
| 11 | Thailand | 6 | 9 | 16 | 31 |
| 12 | Croatia | 5 | 6 | 21 | 32 |
| 13 | Netherlands | 4 | 5 | 16 | 25 |
| 14 | Cuba | 4 | 3 | 8 | 15 |
| 15 | Serbia | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| 16 | Azerbaijan | 4 | 1 | 11 | 16 |
| 17 | Russia | 3 | 13 | 18 | 34 |
| 18 | West Germany | 3 | 8 | 19 | 30 |
| 19 | Italy | 3 | 5 | 16 | 24 |
| 20 | Germany | 3 | 4 | 16 | 23 |
| 21 | Uzbekistan | 2 | 7 | 6 | 15 |
| 22 | Denmark | 2 | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| 23 | Egypt | 2 | 3 | 15 | 20 |
| 24 | Ivory Coast | 2 | 3 | 12 | 17 |
| 25 | Hungary | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 26 | Mali | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 27 | Canada | 1 | 11 | 14 | 26 |
| 28 | Brazil | 1 | 8 | 14 | 23 |
| 29 | Greece | 1 | 5 | 10 | 16 |
| 30 | Ecuador | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 31 | Australia | 1 | 1 | 18 | 20 |
| 32 | Japan | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| – | Individual Neutral Athletes | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 33 | World Taekwondo Federation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 34 | Belgium | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 35 | Gabon | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 36 | Niger | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 | Philippines | 0 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| 38 | Morocco | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 39 | Jordan | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| 40 | Puerto Rico | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 41 | Afghanistan | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 42 | Chile | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 43 | Indonesia | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 44 | Vietnam | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 45 | Argentina | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 45 | Venezuela | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 47 | Israel | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 47 | Portugal | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 49 | Bahrain | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 | Guam | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 | Ukraine | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 52 | Kazakhstan | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| 53 | Sweden | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 54 | Dominican Republic | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 55 | Colombia | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 55 | Tunisia | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 57 | Belarus | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 57 | Norway | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 57 | Saudi Arabia | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 60 | Austria | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 60 | Senegal | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 60 | Slovenia | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 60 | Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 64 | Cyprus | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 64 | Finland | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 64 | Guatemala | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 64 | Latvia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 64 | Malaysia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 64 | Moldova | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 64 | Nepal | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 64 | Serbia and Montenegro | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 72 | Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 72 | Costa Rica | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 72 | Nigeria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 72 | Poland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 72 | Uganda | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (76 entries) | Totals (76 entries) | 360 | 360 | 720 | 1,440 |
    a^ At the 2023 World Championships, athletes from Russia and Belarus in accordance with sanctions imposed following by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine participated as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), their medals were not included in the official medal table.
    b^ At the 2015 World Championships, athletes from Belgium competed as World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) due to the suspension of the country's Taekwondo Federation.

## Multiple gold medalists

The tables shows those who have won at least 3 gold medals at the World Championships. Boldface denotes active taekwondo practitioners and highest medal count among all taekwondo practitioners (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

### Men

| Rank | Taekwondo practitioner | Country | Weights | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Steven López | United States | 72 kg / 78 kg / 80 kg | 2001 | 2009 | 5 | – | – | 5 |
| 2 | Choi Yeon-ho | South Korea | 54 kg | 2001 | 2009 | 4 | – | – | 4 |
| 2 | Jeong Kook-hyun | South Korea | 73 kg / 76 kg | 1982 | 1987 | 4 | – | – | 4 |
| 4 | Bahri Tanrıkulu | Turkey | 78 kg / 84 kg / 87 kg | 1999 | 2009 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Lee Dae-hoon | South Korea | 63 kg / 68 kg | 2011 | 2019 | 3 | – | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Jin Seung-tae | South Korea | 50 kg / 54 kg | 1993 | 1997 | 3 | – | – | 3 |
| 6 | Kim Je-kyoung | South Korea | +83 kg | 1993 | 1997 | 3 | – | – | 3 |
| 6 | Kim Tae-hun | South Korea | 54 kg | 2013 | 2017 | 3 | – | – | 3 |
| 6 | Kim Yong-ki | South Korea | 58 kg / 56 kg | 1977 | 1982 | 3 | – | – | 3 |
| 6 | Yang Dae-seung | South Korea | 70 kg | 1987 | 1991 | 3 | – | – | 3 |

### Women

| Rank | Taekwondo practitioner | Country | Weights | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Brigitte Yagüe | Spain | 51 kg / 47 kg / 49 kg | 2001 | 2011 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | Cho Hyang-mi | South Korea | 65 kg / 63 kg | 1991 | 1999 | 3 | – | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Bianca Cook (Walkden) | Great Britain | +73 kg | 2015 | 2023 | 3 | – | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Jung Myoung-sook | South Korea | +70 kg | 1993 | 1997 | 3 | – | – | 3 |

## World Poomsae Championships

| Year | Date | City and host country |
| 2014 | October 30 – November 2 | Aguascalientes, Mexico |
| 2016 | September 29 – October 2 | Lima, Peru |
| 2018 | November 15 – 18 | Taipei, Taiwan |
| 2020 | November 15 – December 15 | online* |
| 2022 | April 21 – 24 | Goyang, South Korea |
| 2024 | November 30 – December 4 | Hong Kong, China |
* The 2020 World Poomsae Championships were held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was originally meant to be held in May in Herning, Denmark.