Caden Cunningham from Yorkshire will be competing for Team GB in the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, hoping to become a gold medal winner in a sport that Britain has only triumphed twice in. Daniel Wales and Charles Hague-Jones spoke to him ahead of the Paris games.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Later this year, Paris will become only the second city to host the Summer Olympic Games
00:07 for a third time, replicating the feat of London in 2012.
00:11 The City of Love will see Team GB once again attempt to finish in the top four of the medal
00:16 table, something they have achieved in every Summer Games since 2008.
00:23 Historically in Taekwondo, Britain have won nine medals at the Olympic Games, including
00:28 two golds. One young athlete hoping to improve those
00:31 figures is Caden Cunningham. He spoke about his hopes ahead of the Games.
00:37 "So, yeah, the nerves, everyone has their different level of nerves. I assumed once
00:42 I started getting towards the top and I won my first title of something and I won the
00:45 first big comp, that I'd settle, but it seems to have only doubled. So I assume by the Olympics
00:51 I'll be just as nervous, if not, well, likely more so. But from the competition I'm expecting
00:57 and hoping it's smoothly run. There's no interruptions, there's no problems like that. And it's easy
01:02 to watch for viewers at home. But for myself, a lot of people there are people I've either
01:08 fought before or I've seen on the circuit and I hold myself to a high regard. I am one
01:13 of the best heavyweights. So it's a stage for me to get built Taekwondo for the UK,
01:20 but also like sort of earn what I've been working towards for so long and win that gold."
01:27 "And obviously only 20 years old, you've got time to get to multiple Olympic Games really
01:32 throughout your career. What are your aims for Paris? You've mentioned you are high in
01:37 confidence, but is it a case of just sort of test the waters and see what an Olympic
01:42 Games is all about?"
01:44 "Yeah, I'll be trying to take it in as much as I can because of the experience, but I'll
01:52 be very much so there with the mindset of I am the one who is going to become Olympic
01:56 champion on August the 10th."
01:58 I then asked Caden, who is one of 1,000 UK athletes to receive national lottery funding,
02:04 on just how confident he is to become another UK Taekwondo medal winner at the Olympics,
02:10 adding to the figure of nine medals, including two golds.
02:14 "Yeah, 100%. I'm going to add to that. Bradlison will be competing before me, so he's going
02:19 to become the first male Olympic champion. But I won't mind taking the second one as
02:25 long as we both get that gold and what we're deserving to earn."
02:29 Just on Paris, we've seen incredible city, lots of history throughout that city. Are
02:35 you pleased that it's a place that's quite close to home as well for an Olympic Games
02:40 and it's in a fantastic city to make your debut?
02:43 "Yeah, yeah. It being in Paris is just a little short trip over the water. The time difference
02:49 isn't a lot. And yeah, I wouldn't mind wherever it is. Any competition I've been to in Paris
02:54 has been quite well run and there's loads of fans and they're very vocal. So I think
02:59 it'll be a good place to have a Taekwondo competition in."