No pain, same gain: Asian Games athletes may soon be able to medal in virtual taekwondo

Getting kicked in the face may no longer be part of taekwondo athletes’ inevitable pain required to win a gold in the upcoming Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games this fall — thanks to the introduction of virtual taekwondo.

Virtual taekwondo is likely to be added as an official discipline to the upcoming Asian Games, a Japanese media outlet reported Thursday. The official announcement is expected to be made after a board meeting in mid-June. 

Virtual taekwondo is a digital version of the traditional martial art in which athletes wearing VR headgear and a motion-tracking device compete against a virtual opponent in a limited time period. Victory goes to the player with the highest level on their power gauge at the end of the match.

“The Olympic Council of Asia has requested the addition,” the Yomiuri Shimbun reported, noting its “growing fan base [being enough to hold] a world championship.”

The matches for the real-world taekwondo competition will take place at the Toyohashi City Gymnasium in Aichi, while discussions to hold virtual taekwondo matches at the same venue are reportedly underway.

World taekwondo, the international federation for the sport, has been pushing for the Asian Games to adopt the virtual version of the discipline as an official sport.

If adopted, virtual matches would take place in a mixed-gender individual format for athletes aged 17 to 35 in a 16-player knockout tournament. It will allow female athletes to fight against male athletes in virtual reality.

Even with virtual taekwondo added, the total number of medals from the sport will be two fewer medals than it was in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2022. The Hangzhou Asian Games featured five weight divisions, with a mixed-gender team event, while the upcoming Nagoya-Aichi Asian Games will feature four weight divisions without a team event.

The 20th Asian Games in Japan will kick off on Sept. 19 and run through Oct. 4.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]