Australia's new National Taekwondo Coach arrives in Melbourne and prepares team for six-week European tour 

Seokhun Lee has arrived in Melbourne to commence his role as Australia's new National Performance Coach for Taekwondo. Eleven athletes will represent Australia next month as the group embarks on a six-week tour of Europe, led by Lee and Safwan Khalil, who has been acting as interim coach since late 2021. 

Working collectively with the Combat Institute of Australia (CombatAUS) and Australian Taekwondo, the Korean native comes to the Australian sport high-performance ranks after a successful tenure as the national coach of Korea's Taekwondo team.

CombatAUS Chief Executive, Alex Vallentine, is delighted to welcome Lee to the high-performance program and shares "It's a pleasure to welcome an international coach of Seokhun’s calibre to CombatAUS and our National Performance Centre. We're looking forward to working with Seokhun and our Taekwondo athletes on their development and quest for enhanced success on the world stage."

Australian Taekwondo Chief Executive, Heather Garriock, is equally pleased to see Lee start his tenure as Australia's National Performance Coach and adds "we're very fortunate to attract someone of Seokhun's pedigree and experience to Taekwondo in Australia, and we're delighted to welcome Seokhun to the role of National Performance Coach. Our community will have the opportunity to connect with Seokhun at the upcoming Australian Taekwondo National Championships in Brisbane."

Lee's focus will be on developing Australia's high-performance Taekwondo athletes at CombatAUS' National Performance Centre as they prepare for their Paris 2024 Olympic campaign.

Eleven athletes to represent Australia next month on European tour are:
Bailey Lewis (City West Taekwondo, VIC)
Damon Cavey (Whiteways Taekwondo, SA)
Reba Stewart (Halls Taekwondo, VIC)
Tamzin Christoffel (One Taekwondo School, QLD)
Tyrone Staben (Adelaide Taekwondo Academy, SA)
Leon Sejranovic (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC)
Tom Afonczenko (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC)
Saffron Tambyrajah (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC)
Will Afonczenko (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC)
Liam Sweeney (One Taekwondo School, QLD)
Anastasia Typou (Halls Taekwondo, VIC)

Given the current COVID-19 situation, the team will be supported by two additional staff to ensure sufficient coverage and athlete support should anything happen during the tour.

The team will start with a 10-day training camp at the French training institute INSEP, the National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance, before heading to Eindhoven in the Netherlands for the Dutch Open Taekwondo Championships on 12th March.

The team will make a short return to INSEP for four additional training days before heading to Lommel in Belgium for the Belgium Open on 19th March. The team will then return home to prepare for the Australian National Championships.

The Australian Taekwondo National Championships will be Lee's first taste of a tournament in Australia, and he is keen to engage with the Australian Taekwondo community.

Lee enthused "I'm really pleased to be part of Taekwondo in Australia and lead the high performance program. I'm looking forward to experiencing the Australian National Championships in April and meeting many new people in the Australian Taekwondo community.”

Australia's Taekwondo high-performance program, run by CombatAUS in consultation with Australian Taekwondo, aims to increase the competitiveness of Australia's elite taekwondo athletes on the world stage and achieve sustainable podium success.

Together, CombatAUS and Australian Taekwondo provide contemporary technical leadership to ensure the strategic direction of Taekwondo in Australia excels.

CombatAUS manages the elite high-performance programs for the Olympic combat sports in Australia.

Australian Taekwondo is the National Sporting Organisation representing Taekwondo in Australia and a recognised Member National Association of World Taekwondo, Australian Olympic Committee and Paralympics Australia.

Image: Taekwondo Coach Seokhun Lee (L) and Safwan Khalil (R)