Attention martial arts fans — The 2024 USA Taekwondo National Championships will be held at the Fort Worth Convention Center Thurs., July 4-Sun., July 7 in advance of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

What is Taekwondo?

Added as an Olympic sport in 2000, Taekwondo is a traditional Korean martial art that emphasizes punching and kicking techniques. The 5000-year-old art emphasizes discipline and enhancing one's spirit through mind and body training. The word breaks down into three parts: "tae," meaning "leg" or "to step on;" "kwon," meaning "fist" or "fight;" and "do," meaning "way" or "discipline."

The deets

The Fort Worth Sports Commission — a nonprofit that coordinates sporting events in Panther City — led a bid to USA Taekwondo to host the event. The 2024 US National Championship will be the third USA Taekwondo event in Cowtown in five years. The June 2021 Regional Championship + May 2022 Pan American series brought a combined $3.1 million to the city in the past 18 months.

Local impact

With 1,300 competing athletes, the event is predicted to bring $3.2 million in direct spending to the local economy. This contract is part of Fort Worth Sports Commission's ongoing effort to attract US Olympic and Paralympic Committee Governing Bodies. Previously, Fort Worth hosted the USA Gymnastics Championships in June 2021, the USA Wrestling Women's National Championships in May 2022, and the USA Table Tennis Championships in July 2022.

Future sports

Fort Worth is set to host the 2023 USA Fencing March North America Cup next spring. The city has also submitted a bid to host the 2024 USA Gymnastics Championships + Olympic team trials.

North Texas has not publicly announced a bid to host the Olympic Games since failing to be selected for the 2012 Games in Fort Worth or the 2024 Games in Dallas, but new sporting and event venues like Dickies Arena and a potential professional soccer stadium could level the playing field for future opportunities.