USA Taekwondo is offering fundraisers the chance to attend next month’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as an honorary team captain ©USA Taekwondo

USA Taekwondo is offering fundraisers the chance to attend next month’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as an honorary team captain.

The national governing body will provide captains with exclusive access to the Rio 2016 taekwondo Olympic team as well as tickets to all Olympic taekwondo event sessions, a guided tour of the high performance centre, and official United States Olympic team clothing.

Those wanting to become a captain will need to donate a minimum of $30,000 (£22,700/€27,100) to USA Taekwondo.

The funds will be used to develop athlete programmes at cadet and junior level to help USA Taekwondo "strengthen the pipeline of Olympians in 2020 and beyond".

As an honorary team captain, USA Taekwondo will provide exclusive access to the Rio 2016 squad ©USA Taekwondo
As an honorary team captain, USA Taekwondo will provide exclusive access to the Rio 2016 squad ©USA Taekwondo

Those interested can apply by contacting either Keith Ferguson at [email protected] or Steve McNally at [email protected].

Taekwondo made its debut as a demonstration sport at the Seoul 1988 Games, but was not officially added to the Olympic programme until Sydney 2000.

Since then, USA Taekwondo has earned eight Olympic medals, comprising two golds, two silvers and four bronzes.

Steven López was the winner of the two golds, triumphing at Sydney 2000 in the men’s under 68 kilograms category before topping the under 80kg podium in Athens four years later.