Source: www.insidethegames.biz

By David Gold

May 25 - The British Olympic Association (BOA) and GB Taekwondo have confirmed the weight categories in which British athletes will compete at next summer's London Olympic Games.

Team GB had four places available to them as the host nation, and it has opted to select athletes in the men's – 68kg and -80kg divisions, as well as the women's -67kg and -57kg categories.

GB Taekwondo will be announcing the athletes competing at the Games in May 2012, shortly after next year's European Taekwondo Championships, taking place in Manchester.

Gary Hall, performance director of GB Taekwondo said: "We have had to select our weight categories for the Games now so as to allow the World Taekwondo Federation to stage their global and continental qualification events over the coming months.

"We've looked at performances across recent international events as well as the major championships such as the Europeans, and the recent World Championships, and have selected the weight categories that we feel give us the best chance of medal success in London next year."

At the recent World Championships in Gyeongju, South Korea, Britain won four medals, including gold in the 67kg category for Sarah Stevenson.

Hall said: "We also shouldn't lose sight of the fact that our performance programme is also geared at taking a longer term approach to developing talent which we hope will deliver success at future Games, such as Rio 2016."

Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt added: "The confirmation of the weight categories in which Team GB taekwondo players will compete at the London 2012 Olympics brings clarity to the athletes and allows them to focus on a tangible goal.

"This announcement allows GB Taekwondo to build on their fantastic performances at the World Championships this month."

Contact the writer of this story at david.gold@insidethegames.biz