July 28, 2023

Bradly Sinden admits his “gut wrenching” final defeat at Tokyo 2020 will stay with him forever unless he upgrades his superb silver medal achievement into gold at Paris 2024.

And with just less than a year to go to the Games opening in the French capital, Sinden is well prepared to make the step up to the top of the podium.

The Yorkshire fighter was within seconds of becoming Britain’s first male Olympic taekwondo champion until Uzbekistan’s Ulugbek Rashitov snatched the title away in dramatic circumstances.

Since then Sinden, 24, has become European champion for the first time and last month regained the world title he captured back in 2019.

Just as importantly, as world No.1, the Doncaster star is in the best position to qualify the -68kg place for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Games.

“It is something that stays with you,” he says of the agonising loss to Rashitov. “You work your whole life towards a goal and for it to be taken away like that was gut wrenching.

“It is something that will stay with me. But it is what built me as a person and built that fire to try and win gold in Paris.

“If I get the gold in Paris it will be out of my head and I will have achieved my goal. If I don’t it will stay with me again.

“It is something you must deal with and that’s the way sport is. It becomes part of you and you take on board the life lessons.”

Tokyo 2020, delayed 12 months due to Covid, was Sinden’s Olympic debut. And due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic it wasn’t the occasion he had dreamed of.

However, Sinden added: “It was still a big deal to qualify for an Olympic Games and to compete at an Olympic Games. It made you realise we weren’t just GB Taekwondo, we were at the pinnacle of sporting events.

“It was good to see other athletes training to admire their skills and for them to admire ours because we are all the best in our craft.

“Tokyo 2020 was a great experience but it was watered down because of Covid. Hopefully this will be great and one to remember.”

*With just less than a year to go until Paris 2024, Team GB is on the search for Mini Mascots!

You can nominate a child aged 5-11 to become an official part of the team for the Games. Find out more about this extraordinary opportunity at www.teamgb.com/mascot

*The World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final 2023 will be held in Manchester from December 1-3, 2023.

This event provides the final opportunity for athletes to secure the ranking needed to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

With just the top 16 world ranked athletes in each Olympic and Paralympic weight category competing,  this is an opportunity to see the best of the best compete live on home soil. For more information or to register for regular updates visit https://www.britishtaekwondo.org.uk/manchester-2023-world-taekwondo-grand-prix-final/

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