Gary Hall 'absolutely believes' Fighting Chance will bring Rio success

Martial artists hoping to make the GB Taekwondo team for the Rio Olympics have now done all they can to convince selectors they have what it takes to go for gold.

Just 16 female and 26 male athletes remain on UK Sport’s Talent ID initiative Fighting Chance: Battle4Brazil and after two phases of physical testing and observed fights, they took part in a gruelling week-long Boot Camp in Manchester.

The Boot Camps gave coaches and selectors, including world champion Sarah Stevenson, the chance to see how far the athletes, who come from a range of martial arts, had progressed over the course of their five month Fighting Chance journey.

Senior Talent Scientist with the UK Talent Team Ian Yates explained: “The Boot Camps have been a big step up for many of these athletes, to go from training four to six hours a week, to 15-20 hours a week is extremely challenging. This is all part of the learning experience for them and it presents a great opportunity for the coaches to see if they can make that step up."

Fighting Chance: Battle4Brazil is a nationwide search for talented male and female athletes across all weight categories and was launched in late 2012. This follows the 2009 Fighting Chance programme that discovered London 2012 Olympic taekwondo bronze medallist Lutalo Muhammad and Sweden Open gold medallist Damon Sansum, a former world kickboxing champion.

 

GB Taekwondo Performance Director Gary Hall has been closely involved with Fighting Chance and has been impressed with the ability and dedication of the athletes.

He said: “The athletes have been coping brilliantly and I’ve been really impressed with the hard work they’ve put in. Compared to the last time we ran Fighting Chance, the standard is far higher, we’ve also had far more athletes at that high standard than last time.

“There are definite contenders here to join the GB Academy and I absolutely believe they’re going to see success in Rio.”

One of those hoping for the chance to join the squad is 17-year-old Rachelle Booth who currently competes in TAGB Taekwondo.

She said: “Fighting Chance has been a really good experience and I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly.

“I hope I can really benefit from this opportunity, take in all the advice from the coaches and improve on my technique. Obviously I’d love to join the Academy, but overall I’m just grateful for this opportunity.”

Another of the athletes, 24-year-old Tom Speer said: “I’ve learnt so much in such a short time frame. If I think back to Phase One and look at where I am now, I’ve improved so much and I think that’s down to the thorough teaching of all the coaches.

“It would be my absolute dream to join the Academy and my goal is to win Olympic gold, as well as winning every other competition I enter!”

The athletes now face a nervous wait while GB Taekwondo coaches and selectors decide which athletes to take forward. If successful, athletes will join the GB Taekwondo Academy in Manchester in August and start their journey towards Olympic success.