Francia
WT · Kukkiwon
Francia es la nación más laureada de Europa en el Taekwondo WT olímpico: desde el debut del deporte en Sídney 2000, los Bleus han subido al podio en cada edición de los Juegos, acumulando más de 10 medallas olímpicas y culminando con el primer oro de su historia en París 2024 gracias a Althéa Laurin. Todo comenzó en 1969 cuando el Gran Maestro Lee Kwan-Young llegó a París enviado por el gobierno surcoreano, y encontró en las banlieues parisinas y las comunidades de la diáspora africana y antillana un terreno fértil sin igual. Con cerca de 50.000 licenciados y 900 clubes, Francia es hoy una superpotencia del Taekwondo WT occidental.
Foundation
Lee Kwan-Young — the father of French Taekwondo
A 23-year-old Korean master arrives in Paris with no money or French
Taekwondo arrived in France through one man: Grand Master Lee Kwan-Young. Born on 19 April 1946 in South Korea, in 1968 the South Korean government held a competition between the country's 80 best martial artists to select the one who would spread Taekwondo abroad — Lee Kwan-Young won. On 16 September 1969 he arrived in Paris aged 23, with no money and not speaking a word of French.
The first Taekwondo demonstration on French soil had taken place in 1968 during the Karate Cup of France in Fontainebleau, but it was Lee who turned curiosity into movement. He started teaching at the Fédération Française de Judo et Disciplines Associées. Over more than fifty years of teaching he trained more than 1,500 black belts, led the first national teams and developed his own method: Hoshin Moosool. He is universally regarded as the founding father of Taekwondo in France.
“Lee Kwan-Young arrived in Paris in 1969 aged 23, with no money or French — and built the most successful Taekwondo programme in Western Europe.”
Institutional
From karate to the autonomous FFTDA
Twenty years of struggle for federative independence
For years French Taekwondo lived under the administrative umbrella of karate federations. In 1976 the FFKAMA incorporated TKD among its related disciplines. A first specific federation was set up in 1978, but full autonomy took almost two decades. On 14 October 1994 the constitutive assembly of the National Taekwondo Committee (CNT) was held.
On 1 September 1995 the CNT was renamed Fédération Française de Taekwondo et Disciplines Associées (FFTDA), and on 6 October 1995 the Ministry granted it the official delegation of powers. On 2 April 1996 the FFTDA was affiliated with the College of French Olympic Federations — just in time to prepare for the sport's Olympic debut in Sydney 2000. The FFTDA also oversees Hapkido, Tang Soo Do and Soo Bahk Do, and has its headquarters in Paris.
“1 September 1995 marked the official birth of the FFTDA — which in less than 30 years built the most successful Olympic TKD programme in Europe.”
First Podium
Pascal Gentil — double Olympic bronze (2000 and 2004)
The first Olympic medallist and the symbol of a generation
If Lee Kwan-Young laid the foundations, Pascal Gentil crowned them with medals. Born on 15 May 1973 in Paris, of Martinican origin, Gentil was world runner-up in 1995 and three-time European champion. At Sydney 2000 he claimed bronze in +80 kg in TKD's official Olympic debut, becoming the first Olympic medallist in French Taekwondo. At Athens 2004 he repeated with another bronze — the only French athlete to win two Olympic medals in the sport.
At that same Athens tournament, Myriam Baverel reached the +67 kg final and won silver — France ended with two medallists, the first time any European country achieved that in consecutive editions of the sport. In 2001, Mamedy Doucara, just 20 years old, captured the world title in -78 kg: the second Frenchman to be an individual WT world champion.
“Pascal Gentil — two consecutive Olympic bronzes (2000, 2004), first medallist in the history of French Taekwondo.”
Golden Generation
Épangue, Niaré and Harnois — two medals on one Olympic day
The generation that turned France into a European women's TKD superpower
Gwladys Épangue, born on 15 August 1983 in Clichy to Cameroonian parents, discovered TKD aged 11 in La Courneuve. She won two world titles (Copenhagen 2009, -67 kg; Gyeongju 2011, -73 kg), four European titles (2002, 2004, 2005, 2010) and Olympic bronze at Beijing 2008. She was the most dominant athlete in European women's Taekwondo for nearly a decade.
At London 2012, Marlène Harnois won bronze in -57 kg and Anne-Caroline Graffe won silver in +73 kg — two medals on the same Olympic day. Haby Niaré, born on 26 June 1993 in Mantes-la-Jolie, took over: world champion in Puebla 2013 (-67 kg) and Olympic silver in Rio 2016, losing the final by a single point (12-13) to South Korea's Oh Hye-Ri. France kept its streak alive: an Olympic medal at every edition since Sydney 2000.
“Two medals in one Olympic day (Harnois bronze + Graffe silver, London 2012) — France proved its depth in women's TKD was unrivalled in Europe.”
The First Gold
Althéa Laurin — gold at home, Paris 2024
The first Olympic champion in the history of French Taekwondo
Althéa Laurin was born on 1 September 2001 in Épinay-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis). At the age of 7 her parents took her to enrol her in karate, but due to a misunderstanding she ended up in a Taekwondo class — an accident that changed the history of French sport. Junior European champion in 2019. Olympic bronze at Tokyo 2020 aged just 19. World champion in Baku 2023.
At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, before her home crowd at the Grand Palais, Laurin won gold in +67 kg, defeating Uzbekistan's Svetlana Osipova in the final without losing a single round in the entire tournament. With that gold she became the first Olympic champion in the history of French TKD — ending 24 years of waiting. Cyrian Ravet (born on 5 September 2002 in Lyon, of Guadeloupean origin) added bronze in -58 kg. The FFTDA, with 900 clubs and 50,000 licensees, consolidates a model that combines the heritage of the African and Caribbean diaspora with high-performance programmes at INSEP.
“Althéa Laurin — Olympic gold at Paris 2024 in +67 kg, the first Olympic champion in the history of French Taekwondo, born in Seine-Saint-Denis.”
Taekwondo en Francia
- ›Llegó a París el 16 septiembre 1969 — inicio formal del TKD en Francia
- ›Seleccionado entre 80 candidatos por el gobierno surcoreano
- ›Más de 1.500 cinturones negros formados en 55+ años
- ›Director técnico de los primeros equipos nacionales franceses
- ›Creador del método Hoshin Moosool
- ›Bronce olímpico Sídney 2000 (+80 kg) — primer medallista olímpico del TKD francés
- ›Bronce olímpico Atenas 2004 (+80 kg) — único doble medallista olímpico francés en TKD
- ›Subcampeón del mundo 1995; 3 títulos europeos; 4 Copas del Mundo
- ›12 títulos nacionales (2001–2012)
- ›2 títulos mundiales WT (2009, -67 kg; 2011, -73 kg)
- ›Bronce olímpico Pekín 2008 (-67 kg)
- ›4 títulos europeos (2002, 2004, 2005, 2010)
- ›Entrenadora en 'Génération Taekwondo Académie 93' (La Courneuve)
- ›Oro olímpico París 2024 (+67 kg) — primera campeona olímpica del TKD francés
- ›Campeona del mundo Bakú 2023 (+67 kg)
- ›Bronce olímpico Tokio 2020 (+67 kg) — con 19 años
- ›Campeona de Europa 2022 y 2024
- ›Campeona del mundo Puebla 2013 (-67 kg)
- ›Plata olímpica Río 2016 (-67 kg) — perdió la final por 1 punto
- ›Empleada de la SNCF durante su carrera de alto rendimiento
Sigue explorando
La historia del Taekwondo continúa en cada dojang, en cada clase, en cada estudiante.