Steven Behn

Steven Behn (born 12 October 1995) is a German taekwondo athlete, six-time European poomsae medalist, two-time European freestyle champion and 2018 world bronze medalist.

Career history

Steven Behn began practising the Korean martial art of taekwondo at his father's sports club in Hamburg in 2002.

In 2015, he took part in his first international senior competition, the European Taekwondo Championships in Belgrade, where he became European champion in the freestyle competition with the mixed team (consisting of five team members, at least two men and two women).

In 2016, Behn competed at the World Championships in Lima, where he placed sixth with the mixed team and in pairs (a two-person team consisting of one man and one woman). In 2017, he took part in the FISU World University Games in Taipei, where he finished in seventh place in the men's team competition. At the European Championships in Rhodes in the same year, he became European champion in the freestyle competition with the mixed team for a second time.

At the 2018 World Championships in Taipei, Behn won a bronze medal in the freestyle competition together with the mixed team. The following year, at the 2019 European Championships in Antalya, Behn won a bronze medal in pairs in the discipline of traditional poomsae. He also won a second bronze medal in the freestyle team competition at these European Championships.

In 2019, Behn once again took part in the World University Games, which were held in Naples. There, as in 2017, he finished seventh in the men's team competition. At the 2021 European Championships in Seixal, he won a bronze medal in the pairs' freestyle competition.

Behn took part in the 2022 World Championships in Goyang, where he finished fifth in the freestyle pairs competition. In 2023, he became German champion in the men's individual freestyle competition for the first time. He also won his seventh German runner-up title overall in the individual's traditional poomsae competition.

At the 2025 European Championships held in Tallinn, Steven Behn won a bronze medal with the German freestyle team.

Personal life & career

Behn studied psychology at the University of Hamburg and the University of Hagen and works as a research assistant. Since 2018, he has been appointed as the regional coach for poomsae at the Hamburg Taekwondo Association, and since 2023 is a certified sports psychology expert for the area of competitive sport. In June 2026, he was appointed youth counsellor (full-time) for the Deutsche Taekwondo Jugend, the youth organisation of the German Taekwondo Union (DTU).

At the 2025 World University Games, Steven Behn was nominated as team Germany's coach for poomsae, which at this competition was performed in combination with freestyle. During this tournament, he supervised athletes Leah Lawall, Adina Machwirth and Anna Siepmann, who as the women's team won a bronze medal in this discipline for Germany for the first time.

Tournament record