Spectators watching the 2020 Olympics will likely notice something different about the taekwondo competition.
When the Summer Games go to Tokyo, martial arts fans will be able to watch taekwondo in 360-degree 4K video, according to an announcement from World Taekwondo. The ultra high-definition panoramic cameras would bring fans unprecedented views of the fighters’ technique and provide referees with a video replay for more accurate calls.
Taekwondo is one of the last events slated for the 2020 Games, according to the Yonhap News Agency, meaning that the international governing body for the sport could have a prime opportunity to show off the new system. Further boosting the profile of taekwondo, World Taekwondo’s president Chungwon Choue said in the article, is its close proximity in the Games’ calendar to karate, which will be new to the Olympics in 2020.
“Taekwondo is the more experienced sport at the Olympics (compared with karate),” he said. “Our executive members want to show taekwondo’s power,” Choue said.
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Fans who tune in to the competition would be treated to the new video system that Choue said was to be tested at the first Grand Slam Champions Series in Wuxi, China last week. The decision to bring 4K 360-degree video to taekwondo stems from similar technology being used to capture archery.
“Archery earned popularity with a high-speed camera despite the simplicity of the sport, and we realized that it’s important to provide dynamic images,” Choue said at a World Taekwondo press conference, according to the Yonhap agency. “In Tokyo, we want more cameras and to provide 360-degree images.”
If the test goes well, fans — and fighters — will have an enhanced and fairer experience with the sport on the largest athletic stage in the world.