24th May 2018

Joseph Lane hopes daily training with Britain’s first ever Para Taekwondo world champion pays dividends when resuming his journey towards Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

The 19-year-old Londoner is one of four GB Taekwondo athletes taking part in the Asian Para Taekwondo Open Championship in Vietnam today. (Thursday)

All-conquering Amy Truesdale is also looking to add to her impressive medal collection.

And Lane laughs: “Training alongside ‘Aunty Amy’ is huge for me.

“Her success definitely spurs me on and to see what is possible. She has achieved a great deal in para taekwondo and she is also a great teammate.

“Amy provides a lot of support in and out the ring and it helps on my journey to the Paralympics

“Being around the Para squad is amazing. We are like a little family we all look after and support each other so when we train we make sure we are all working at our hardest to improve each other.

“It gives me great motivation training with them as I want to work harder than everyone else.

“We all put our maximum effort into each one of our training sessions and this motivates me on my journey to Tokyo as the support and motivation I get from my teammates is amazing.”

“I am feeling very confident in my own abilities heading into fight day as I have done some solid preparation,” added Lane.

“In the run-up to this competition, our training has been intense.

“I have gained a lot from the sessions that we have done and I feel in peak physical condition.”

Schedule:

Thursday, May 24

Male:

-75kg (K44): Joseph Lane (London)

Female:

+58kg (K44): Amy Truesdale (Chester)