2023 World Taekwondo Championships in Baku: Preview, schedule, and how to watch live

By Evelyn Watta
5 min|
Taekwondo action from the 2019 World Championships in Manchester
Picture by Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

The tournament, which will be streamed live on Olympics.com and will count towards Olympic qualification, will showcase some of the world's best taekwondo athletes in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 29 May-4 June.

Six Olympic gold medallists highlight the star-studded entries for the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, where the best of the sport will converge to compete in 16 weight categories across men and women.

In addition to the Olympic stars, several returning champions will aim to wow the crowds at the Baku Crystal Hall during this tournament, which also serves as an Olympic qualifying process for Paris 2024.

The event offers athletes a chance to earn points for Olympic qualification through the World Taekwondo Olympic ranking, which will reflect results obtained from selected events until December 2023.

What is the competition schedule for the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships?

2023 World Taekwondo Championships: Full events schedule in local time, Baku, Azerbaijan (UTC/GMT +4)

Medal events are indicated in bold.

Monday 29 May

  • 09:00-14:00 – Preliminaries men’s -68kg and women’s -57kg
  • 15:00-16:30 – Round of 16 and quarterfinals men’s -68kg and women’s -57kg
  • 18:00 -20:30 – Semi-finals and Finals men’s -68kg and women’s -57kg

Tuesday 30 May

  • 09:00-14:00 – Preliminaries men’s -58kg, women’s -67kg and women’s -73kg
  • 15:00-16:30 – Round of 16 and quarterfinals men’s -58kg, women’s -67kg and women’s -73kg
  • 18:00 -20:30 – Semi-finals and Finals men’s -58kg, women’s -67kg and women’s -73kg

Wednesday 31 May

  • 09:00-14:00 – Preliminaries men’s -80kg, men’s -87kg and women’s -49kg
  • 15:00-16:30 – Round of 16 and quarterfinals men’s -80kg, men’s -87kg and women’s -49kg
  • 18:00 -20:30 – Semi-finals and Finals men’s -80kg, men’s -87kg and women’s -49kg

Thursday 1 June

  • 09:00-12:30 – Preliminaries men’s -63kg and women’s +73kg
  • 14:00-15:30 – Round of 16 and quarterfinals men’s -63kg and women’s +73kg
  • 18:00 -20:00 – Semi-finals and Finals men’s -63kg and women’s +73kg

Friday 2 June

  • 09:00-12:30 – Preliminaries men’s -54kg and women’s -46kg
  • 14:00-15:30 – Round of 16 and quarterfinals men’s -54kg and women’s -46kg
  • 18:00 -20:00 – Semi-finals and Finals men’s -54kg and women’s -46kg

Saturday 3 June

  • 09:00-12:30 – Preliminaries men’s -74kg and women’s -62kg
  • 14:00-15:30 – Round of 16 and quarterfinals -74kg and women’s -62kg
  • 18:00 -20:00 – Semi-finals and Finals -74kg and women’s -62kg

Sunday 4 June

Athletes to watch at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships

Athletes from 144 countries and a Refugee Team consisting of seven athletes will be in Baku for the 2023 World Championships.

Three-time world champion Bianca Cook (Walkden) leads the field, alongside double world gold medallists Panipak Wongpattanakit, fresh from clinching her fourth Southeast Asian Games title in Cambodia, Cuba’s Rafael Alba Castillo, and Mahdi Khodabakhshi from Serbia.

Two-time Olympic bronze medallist Cook, the world number one in the women’s +73kg, is back on the world stage after missing the last event in Guadalajara, Mexico, due to injury and is seeking a record fourth world title.

Olympic champion Wongpattanakit is aiming for her first world title in the -49kg category, previously won by Mexican Daniela Souza last year.

Castillo, on the other hand, is a favourite in the men’s +87kg, which is led by world number one and defending champion Carlos Sansores from Mexico.

Another notable contender in the same weight class is Rio Olympic gold medallist Cheick Sallah Cisse, who will be joined by Maicon Siqueira, a podium finisher from the Rio 2016 Games. The Brazilian currently lies third in the standings, just behind Sansores a spot ahead of Cisse.

In the men’s -87kg category, Serbian world number three Khodabakhshi will strive to retain his gold from last year's competition. Brazil's Icaro Martins Soares, a silver medallist from Manchester 2019, is also listed in this weight class.

Welsh taekwondo star Jade Jones is making her comeback after a confidence-boosting win at the European Club Championships at the end of April. As the favourite in the women’s -57kg category, she sees the Worlds as a steppingstone towards her fourth Olympic Games.

Other Tokyo 2020 stars to keep an eye on are Italian Vito Dell’Aquila (men’s -58kg), Matea Jelic (women’s -73kg) and Ulugbek Rashitov (men’s -68kg). World number one Dell’Aquila has been in superb form since winning the world title last December.

Uzbekistan’s Rashitov returns after finishing ninth in the last Worlds, while Jelic, who became the first Croatian taekwondo athlete to earn an Olympic title, Jelic, is looking to secure her first global title after her success in Tokyo.

How to watch the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships from Baku

You can catch the action live from Baku on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com (territorial restrictions apply).

World Taekwondo will also livestream the event on their site