Taekwondo Canada's national poomsae competitions will be split into separate recreational and high-performance events ©Taekwondo Canada

Taekwondo Canada is taking its national poomsae competitions online in 2021, ensuring they can go ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The move to a remote competition format - necessitated by the health crisis - means that two different national competitions will be run for the first time.

The High Performance Online Poomsae Nationals are due to take place on February 6 and 7, with registration already open.

Recreational Online Poomsae Nationals will be held between February 13 and March 7, across eight different categories.

Poomsae taekwondo has taken on elevated prominence in recent months because of the coronavirus pandemic making in-person competitions hard to stage, and the discipline lending itself to virtual formats.

Canada's Michelle Lee was a gold medalist at last year's first-ever Online World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships  ©Taekwondo Canada
Canada's Michelle Lee was a gold medalist at last year's first-ever Online World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships ©Taekwondo Canada

Canada won 20 medals at the 2020 Pan Am Poomsae Championships, which were held virtually.

Michelle Lee won the female over-17 freestyle contest and the pairs over-17 freestyle along with partner Jinsu Ha, while the nation also won six silver medals and 12 bronzes.

Lee also won a world title when the first-ever Online World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships were held late last year.