title: World Taekwondo Gala Awards
text: # World Taekwondo Gala Awards
  
  The World Taekwondo Gala Awards are an annual award ceremony hosted by World Taekwondo. The first edition was on 5 December 2014 in Querétaro, Mexico.
  
  ## Ceremonies
  
  The ceremonies are typically held one day after the annual Grand Prix final and hosted in the same city.
  
  | Edition | Date | Venue |
  | - | - | - |
  | 1 | 5 December 2014 | Centro de Congresos Queretaro, Querétaro |
  | 2 | 7 December 2015 | Mexico National Theater, Mexico City |
  | 3 | 11 December 2016 | Badamdar Hotel, Baku |
  | 4 | 4 December 2017 | Radisson Blue Hotel, Abidjan |
  | 5 | 23 November 2018 | Fujairah National Theater, Fujairah |
  | 6 | 7 December 2019 | Lotte Plaza Hotel, Moscow |
  
  ## Winners
  
  ### Player of the Year
  
  | Year | Winner | Winner |
  | - | - | - |
  | Year | Male | Female |
  | 2014 | Lee Dae-hoon | Jade Jones |
  | 2015 | Lee Dae-hoon | Wu Jingyu |
  | 2016 | Ahmad Abughaush | Jade Jones |
  | 2017 | Lee Dae-hoon | Bianca Walkden |
  | 2018 | Lee Dae-hoon | İrem Yaman |
  | 2019 | Jang Jun | Panipak Wongpattanakit |
  
  ### Kick of the Year
  
  | Year | Winner |
  | - | - |
  | 2014 | |
  | 2015 | Aaron Cook |
  | 2016 | Cheick Sallah Cissé |
  | 2017 | Aaron Cook |
  | 2018 | Aaron Cook |
  | 2019 | In Kyo-don |
  
  ### Fair Play Award
  
  | Year | Winner(s) | Event |
  | - | - | - |
  | 2014 | | |
  | 2015 | | |
  | 2016 | | |
  | 2017 | | |
  | 2018 | | |
  | 2019 | Mahama Cho and Ruslan Zhaparov | 2019 Grand Prix Series 1 men's +80 kg semi-finals |
  
  ### Coach of the Year
  
  | Year | Winner | Team/Athlete(s) |
  | - | - | - |
  | 2014 | Bang Young-in | Mexico national taekwondo team |
  | 2015 | Gulash Alonso | Egypt national taekwondo team |
  | 2016 | Reza Mehmandoust | Azerbaijan national taekwondo team |
  | 2017 | Dragan Jović | Milica Mandić, Tijana Bogdanović, Vanja Stanković (Taekwondo Club Galeb) |
  | 2018 | Ali Şahin | Turkey national taekwondo team |
  | 2019 | Reza Mehmandoust | Azerbaijan national taekwondo team |
  
  ### Member National Association (MNA) of the Year
  
  | Year | Winner |
  | - | - |
  | 2014 | Mexican Taekwondo Federation |
  | 2015 | Russian Taekwondo Federation |
  | 2016 | Azerbaijan Taekwondo Federation |
  | 2017 | Korea Taekwondo Association |
  | 2018 | UAE Taekwondo Federation Italian Taekwondo Federation |
  | 2019 | Russian Taekwondo Federation |
  
  ### Referee of the Year
  
  | Year | Winner | Winner |
  | - | - | - |
  | Year | Male | Female |
  | 2014 | Neydis Tavarez | Neydis Tavarez |
  | 2015 | Tarik Benradi | Kalay Suddai |
  | 2016 | Kim Song-chul | Maria Merkouri |
  | 2017 | Abdelkhalek Chbibi | Julie Dib |
  | 2018 | Mohamed Adel Abdelfattah | Ksenia Choucha |
  | 2019 | Denis Kim | Ksenia Levai |
  
  ### National Team of the Year
  
  | Year | Winner |
  | - | - |
  | 2014 | |
  | 2015 | |
  | 2016 | |
  | 2017 | Korea national taekwondo team |
  | 2018 | |
  | 2019 | |
  
  ### Best Continental Union of the Year
  
  | Year | Winner |
  | - | - |
  | 2014 | |
  | 2015 | |
  | 2016 | |
  | 2017 | World Taekwondo Africa |
  | 2018 | |
  | 2019 | |
  
  **Most Improved MNA of the Year**
  
  | Year | Winner |
  | - | - |
  | 2014 | |
  | 2015 | |
  | 2016 | |
  | 2017 | |
  | 2018 | |
  | 2019 | Brazilian Taekwondo Federation |
  