The Paris 2023 World Taekwondo (WT) Grand Prix, a test event for taekwondo at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, will be held from Sept. 1 to 3 next month.”255 athletes from 59 countries, including Korea, will compete in Le Vallee-les-Perres, near Paris,” the WTF said on Sept. 28.South Korea will send a number of key athletes, including Jang Jun (Korea Gas Corp.) and Park Tae Joon (Kyung Hee University) in the men’s 58-kilogram category, Park Woo Hyuk (Samsung S-One) in the men’s 80-kilogram category, and Lee Da Bin (Seoul Metropolitan Government) in the women’s 67-kilogram overweight category.The team will use the tournament to familiarize themselves with the local atmosphere in Paris, as well as to make final preparations for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, which begin next month.The Paris Grand Prix will also feature athletes from Russia and Belarus who were suspended for their involvement in Ukraine.”Athletes from the Russian, Belarusian and refugee teams will compete as individual qualifiers (AIN),” WT reported, noting that Tokyo 2020 men’s 80 kg winner Maksim Haramtsov and men’s over-80 kg Vladislav Larin (both Russia) have also applied to compete.Both athletes attempted to return to international competition at the Baku World Taekwondo Championships in June, but were banned by the WTF Eligibility Review Commission.At the time, the committee barred athletes with ties to the Russian-Belarusian military and intelligence services, those who declared support for the war in Ukraine, and those who failed to meet World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standards.Haramtsov and Larin did not meet those criteria and were given a three-month grace period until Aug. 31 of this year.”The two athletes were allowed to compete in the Paris Grand Prix in their individual capacities as no new evidence of violation of the conditions of participation was found during the grace period,” the WTF explained.Meanwhile, taekwondo at the Paris Olympics will be held at the Grand Palais, a monumental structure on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, from August 7-10 토토사이트 next year.