From November 24 to December 8, 2019, a squad of 18 athletes and six coaches from Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu attended the World Taekwondo Oceania Regional Olympic Qualification Tournament training camp in Seoul, South Korea.
The training camp was intended to aid the development of both the able-bodied and para athletes from regional nations within Oceania, in preparation for the Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Tournaments to be held on February 29, 2020, on the Gold Coast, Australia.
In doing so, the athletes were submerged in an elite taekwondo environment that dictated a regimented training schedule comprised of between four and six hours of physical training each day. On any given day, the athletes attended a strength and conditioning session, a technical/tactical drills-based session, and a practical sparring session.
Venues attended throughout the training camp included:
- Korea National Sports University;
- Yong In University;
- Han Song High School;
- Chang Dong High School; and
- Seoul IT High School.
Throughout the training camp the athletes had the opportunity to train under the tutelage of several taekwondo World Champions in addition to training alongside athletes from the Kazakhstani, Japanese, Chinese, El Salvadoran and USA national teams, as well as members of a Korean Corporate Team.