9th May 2018

Maddison Moore still has to pinch herself she’s a fully-fledged member of the GB Taekwondo Academy.

But any lingering doubts were removed with Maddison’s selection for the European Championship starting in Kazan, Russia tomorrow (Thursday).

The former European senior and junior karate champion only switched martial arts last November.

But she has impressed during the transition with her performances and enthusiasm.

And Maddison, 22, is “super excited” at the prospect of her major tournament debut alongside Scotland’s Jordyn Smith.

“It’s such an amazing opportunity and I feel blessed to be part of the squad,” explained the former De Montfort University student relishing her move to full-time athlete status.

Maddison worked for a year in an estate agents after leaving Sixth Form College and would fit in her studies, karate training and a job as a part-time barmaid during her university days.

“It got tiring,” she admitted. “I never had a social life.

“The biggest change coming to the GB Academy here was not training in the evening-that felt really weird.

“I love training. The more I do the better and I am always at my coach to do more.

“When you have to put your profession down I got so used to putting student. Now it’s athlete and I write it in bold.

“The other transition I had to make was between the two sports. Karate is semi-contact and you have to pull some of your kicks back.

“Taekwondo is more brutal-you have to kick to the body hard and you have to kick to the face.”

Maddison may still be a taekwondo rookie but any -49kg opponent would do well to avoid complacency.

“Whether it is karate or taekwondo I always go to fight,” she confirmed.

“Just because I am not the best I can be at taekwondo yet, it doesn’t mean I won’t try my best.”

Joining Maddison and Jordyn in action on day one are Scotland’s Hassan Haider and another European Championship debutant, Mason Yarrow.