World Taekwondo has confirmed the appointment of British Taekwondo Vice President and Non-Executive Director Usman Dildar as its Technical Delegate for the Paralympic Games Los Angeles 2028, marking his first appointment to the role.
Usman currently sits as the World Taekwondo Para Taekwondo Committee Chair, and brings extensive Paralympic Games experience to the position, having served on the Supervisory Board and as a Technical Operator for Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
The London Taekwondo Association Coach at Dildar Taekwondo has been trusted with leading the technical delivery of Para Taekwondo at LA28, and was evidently proud about what the appointment means to him.
Speaking to the World Taekwondo website, Usman said: “I am deeply honoured and excited at the same time. I would like to thank our President, Dr Choue, for his trust and for giving me this position. I always do my best, and I will make sure that he is proud of me as a Technical Delegate for the Paralympic Games. I think I have the experience to contribute really well to this occasion and make Para Taekwondo one of the best events in the Paralympic Games in LA.
“The experiences that I have dealing with the international referees, the technical officials, and also knowing the landscape and the community of Para Taekwondo around the world, speaking to different Member National Associations for their needs, and understanding the needs of every coach and every Federation – I think that will make it a smooth competition.
“In the Para Taekwondo community, we are very family oriented. Everybody gets on with each other, and we all are one team who work together to make sure that we deliver the best competition always.”
The role itself is demanding, with a busy schedule of meetings with the LA28 Organising Committee’s team responsible for the Paralympic Games and site visits in the pipeline, and close attention to every aspect of competition delivery already underway.
“It entails a lot because there will be a lot of meetings with the Organising Committee, and also to make sure the platform is ready – the venue, the catering, the transportation, the accommodation, the sport presentation,” Usman continued.
“I have great experience of the London Olympic Games [as Deputy Sport Manager and International Service Manager for Taekwondo], and beyond that a lot of other Olympic and Paralympic Games, so that puts me in a good position to deal with everything and make sure our stakeholders are happy, our technical officials are happy, and that the Organising Committee works smoothly with us.”
The relationship with the LA28 team is already strong, with Usman preparing for an upcoming site visit and working closely with Sport Manager Vusala Clifton, a familiar face within the World Taekwondo family.
“The relationship is very good. We work really closely together, and I am looking forward to the site visit. For Para Taekwondo, they are going above and beyond to provide all the facilities for the athletes,” he said.
As Chair of the World Taekwondo Para Taekwondo Committee, Usman has overseen a period of remarkable growth in the sport. Approximately 30 new countries have competed in Para Taekwondo events worldwide in 2026, including three new countries at the World Para Taekwondo Open Challenge in Chuncheon, Korea.
“By LA, I think we will have a record-breaking number of countries and athletes,” he said.
“Our focus now is on developing the Oceania region for Brisbane 2032. We have quite a lot of new countries coming in from the Oceania region, as well as in Africa. Already, we had five or six new countries participating in the African Championships this year.”
British Taekwondo would like to congratulate Usman on his appointment, and we look forward to playing our part in the qualification process for LA28, as the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Series returns to Manchester in 2027.
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