An opening ceremony of the 26th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships was held in Baku.

President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva arrived at the Christal Hall to attend the opening ceremony of the World Taekwondo Championships.

President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva met with President of the World Taekwondo Federation Chungwon Choue.

Chungwon Choue presented the 8th dan honorary black belt and a certificate to First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva.

The head of state and First Lady had a conversation with the President of the World Taekwondo Federation.

Then, the opening ceremony of the 26th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships was held.

The opening ceremony saw the parade of participating teams.

The flag of the World Taekwondo Federation was brought onto the scene.

Then, the State Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan was brought onto the scene and the state anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was played.

The opening ceremony was addressed by President of the World Taekwondo Federation Chungwon Choue, President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, President of the Azerbaijan Taekwondo Federation Kamaladdin Heydarov.

Minister of Youth and Sport Farid Gayibov declared open the 26th World Taekwondo Championship.

The opening ceremony featured a film reflecting lifetime and activity of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev and President Ilham Aliyev’s and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva’s care for sport development in the country.

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Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of World Taekwondo Federation and 100th anniversary of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, the World Championships will see 949 athletes from 145 countries compete across 16 weight categories (8 men and 8 women) at the Baku Crystall Hall.

The championship gathered nearly 2000 guests from over 150 countries.

Azerbaijan is the second country to host the World Taekwondo Championships among CIS countries after Russia and seventh among European countries after Germany, Denmark, Spain, Greece, Russia and UK.