Taekwondo at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Once again men and women each contested four classes, with competition taking place at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo, which also hosted the wrestling and fencing events. There were between 15 and 17 competitors in each weight category and each was a straight knockout competition of bouts consisting of three two-minute rounds, with a one-minute break in between rounds. The four competitors beaten by the two finalists en route to the semi-final took part in a repêchage and the two winners progressed to a bronze medal match, where they were joined by the two beaten semi-finalists. The winners of those two contests each received a bronze medal.

Each competitor wore either a red or blue chest guard (Hogu) and headgear, which this year electronically recorded hits to the head, and points were awarded for striking an opponent inside the colored area of their uniform. Points ranged from one point for a direct hit to the body, being raised to two points if contact was made via a spinning kick. A direct hit to the head was worth three points, and four if made with the spinning kick. At the end of three rounds the contestant with the most points won. If the scores were level at the end of three rounds it went to sudden-death. If one fighter was 12 or more points clear after round two, the contest ended. The contest also came to an end on disqualification or if one of the fighters was knocked out.

Each National Olympic Committee could send one competitor per event to Tokyo. This made up a maximum of eight competitors per event in every weight class. Five more quotas were available sent by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) depending on their Olympic rankings, one more quota was qualified through the Grand Slam Champions Series, and nine quotas were qualified through continental qualification events. A quota more was given to the host country Japan or by a wildcard.

Seven nations (Russian Olympic Committee, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Thailand, Unites States and Uzbekistan) won a gold medal, with the Russian Olympic Committee winning two of them. Jordan won its first silver medal through Saleh El-Sharabaty, who followed Ahmad Abughaush, the ≤68 class gold medal winner at the 2016 Rio Games.

Additionally a team demonstration event with five teams was held without being in the official program and therefore no medals were given to the two finalists China and Iran. The tournament was organized in two groups. Iran and Japan in one group and China, Ivory Coast and Russian Olympic Committee in the other. Iran beat Japan and China beat Ivory Coast and the Russian Olympic Committee. China dominated the final by 41–22 over Iran.