○ [News Story] 2026 Asian Games, "We Are Also National Athletes" (Broadcast on September 5, 2026)

It is clearly a taekwondo match, but the athletes do not physically engage with each other. As the athletes continuously kick into thin air, avatars on the screen fiercely battle in their place. Virtual Taekwondo, which combines taekwondo with virtual reality technology, has been adopted as an official event for the first time at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. It is a competition where athletes wear body sensors and VR headsets, translating their movements onto avatars to compete against opponents. Because there is no physical contact between competitors, matches can take place regardless of gender and weight class.

Reported by Jung Jun-hyung | Producer: Kim Da-yeon | Video by Won Jin-hee | Produced by SBS Digital News