Focus 2012: Aaron Cook

Winning gold at the German Open aged just 16 marked Cook out as a standout talent in the world of taekwondo. Qualifying for the Beijing Games a year later was still a surprise, however, as 17-year-old Cook became the sport’s youngest ever player to represent Britain at an Olympics…

It was to end in tears, though, after a narrow semi-final defeat left him fighting home favourite Zhu Guo for a bronze medal. A series of blows landed by Cook were seemingly missed by judges, leaving the Chinese player with bronze and Cook in bits.

“I can’t believe the scoring,” he said. “I had the right tactics. I’d have been five to six points ahead in any other taekwondo fight.” Since then, Cook has become one of the favourites for gold in 2012, with victory at the US Open and the Olympic test event last year.

Age in 2012 21

Medal record
European Championships gold 2010,
World Junior Championships gold 2008

Key events before London 2012
European Taekwondo Championships
May 3-6, Manchester