The XVI World Taekwon-do ITF Championships was held in the city of Saint-Petersburg, Russia on October 12-17, 2009. There were a Technical, Umpires and Masters Seminars on October 11-13, 2009 before the Championships. The ITF Congress took place on October 13, 2009.

During the ITF Congress the current President of the International Taekwon-do Federation (ITF) Ung Chang was re-elected for another 4-year-term by an unanimous vote during the ITF Congress held today in Saint Petersburg.

The IOC Member Ung Chang does his best to promote taekwon-do (ITF) into the Olympics. The issue of uniting the two types of taekwon-do (ITF and WTF) is one of the top-priority activity areas of the Federation headed by Ung Chang.

Also during the ITF Congress it was decided to hold the XVII ITF Taekwon-do World Championships in 2011 in Pyongyang (North Korea).

Competitions took place in “Yubileyny” Sports Complex on October 14-17, 2009. Sportsmen participated in the Championship from 82 countries which represented 83 teams (Russia was represented by two teams: Russia 1 and Russia 2). About 5000 persons including 3000 sportsmen were accredited at these Championships.

The Championships program included 9 events:
- Individual Pattern
- Individual Sparring
- Individual Special Technique
- Individual Power Breaking
- Team Pattern
- Team Sparring 
- Team Special Technique 
- Team Power Breaking 
- Self-Defense Routine

The Opening Ceremony of the XVI ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships was held on October 14, 2009 at "Yubileyny" Sports Complex under the direction of the People’s Artist of Russia Oleg Orlov.

The guest and the citizens of Saint Petersburg were welcomed by:
• Professor Chang Ung – ITF President, IOC Member;
• Pavel Novikov – Deputy Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy;
• Alexander Vakhmistrov – Vice Governor of Saint Petersburg.

President of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) Professor Chang Ung has announced of awarding of taekwon-do orders for merits in the development of this martial arts to the Chairman of the Government Vladimir Putin, the Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Vitaly Mutko, Governor of Saint Petersburg Valentina Matvienko, and the rector of the Saint Petersburg National State University of Physical Education, Sports and Health Vladimir Taymazov.

Present at the Opening Ceremony was the widow of the founder of taekwon-do Mrs. Choi who came to St. Petersburg especially for the World Championships.

The guests and participants were congratulated by the crew commander of the ISS Gennady Padalko and onboard engineer Roman Romanenko in a video clip shot on board of the International Space Station.

The ceremony was concluded with a great taekwon-do performance of children under the direction of the Vice President of the Saint Petersburg Taekwon-Do Federation Andrey Beletsky. Over 300 young athletes demonstrated simultaneous performance of taekwon-do technique.

Traditionally strong teams were: Canada, Poland, Greece, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Uzbekistan. The basic opposition was between sportsmen of North Korea and Russia. The small Belarus team, unfortunately, has not won medals.

Upon completion of the XVI ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships ITF President, IOC Member Professor Chang Ung summarized the results of the World Championship in Saint Petersburg: “This World Championship is held on a very high organizational and sports level and I, as the ITF President, am very glad about it. As for the organization, I can only thank the organizing committee of the tournament headed by the President of the Saint Petersburg Taekown-Do Federation Mikhail Shmelev and all the organizations and authorities that participated in the organization process for their work. The tournament was held on a very high level. There were of course some small problems but you cannot avoid them even at the Olympic. On the whole, everything went just fine. From the point of view of sport, you can note that sportsmen from 80 countries came to the tournament to show their mastery, and their level was indeed high. This proves once again that taekwon-do is moving forward fast all around the world”.

The Sport Martial Arts League Chairman Alexander Maltabarov delegated to the XVI World Taekwon-Do Championships has met with Senior Master Kim Yong Hoon (8th Dan), the Vice President of the St.Petersburg Taekwon-Do Federation Andrey Beletsky, the Chairman of the Russian Taekwon-Do Federation Umpire Committee and the Member of the European Taekwon-Do Federation Umpire Committee Murat Sunetov, the Deserved Coach of Russia Alexander Simakov, the International Umpire from Belarus Fahriddin Umarov and many others.

In summary it is necessary to note, that this big sports event has left an appreciable trace in a history of world sports.