Editor’s letter

Sporting administrators find yet another way to fly in the face of either rhyme or reason

Aaron Cook is rated number one in the world in his weight division at taekwondo. You’d be right in assuming he’d have a very good chance of an Olympic gold medal.

Well, er, he would. Except, as things stand, he won’t be representing Team GB. British Taekwondo has decided that he is good enough to be first reserve, but no more. You read that right: the world number one will be a reserve for Great Britain at the Olympics.

Now, I’ll come clean and confess that I’m not necessarily the world’s foremost expert on taekwondo. My wife might suggest I’m not exactly hot on common sense either – but even I can see that this is a decision that defies logic.

But dig a little deeper and maybe the reason becomes clear. A year ago, Cook took himself out of British Taekwondo’s World Class Performance Programme, believing that its coaching methods were not getting the best out of him. The fact that 12 months on he is rated as the world’s best suggests that he was right.

Clearly, this put the noses of the powers that be at British Taekwondo out of joint. For the governing body of a sport that involves fighting, it would appear they have very thin skins.

Now, any governing body can choose who they like, within reason. Team GB’s taekwondo performance director Gary Hall pressed for Cook’s inclusion, but the suits weren’t having it. Now the British Olympic Association has demanded that British Taekwondo explains itself – while Cook has, naturally, appealed the decision.

It seems inexplicable that he won’t be at the Olympics, and by the time you read this British Taekwondo may well have had their minds changed for them. But don’t underestimate the fury of a scorned sports administrator.