[2] Due to the increasing controversies happened in the previous Olympics Taekwondo which led to speculations that this competition might be removed from the Olympic program, the World Taekwondo Federation introduced new electronic scoring system and instant video replays in anticipation to make the competition more transparent and fair.

The distinction of Taekwondo at these Olympic Games was that this was the first time in the sport that eight gold medals were awarded to eight different NOCs.

Steven López, Alexandros Nikolaidis and Sarah Stevenson, the only three legends who participated in each of the three previous Olympics, were all eliminated in the preliminary round.

Only six nations brought four athletes: Egypt, Great Britain, Korea, Mexico, Russia, and the United States.

British taekwondo practitioner Aaron Cook was involved in controversy relating to selection for the games.