Caden Cunningham set to become 'King of Taekwondo' after ...

Caden Cunningham continued Team GB's legacy on the taekwondo Olympic podium with men's +80kg category silver.

Team GB have podiumed in the sport at every Olympic Games since Beijing 2008 when Sarah Stevenson won heavyweight bronze and Cunningham carried on that record in Paris.

The 21-year-old fell to Iran's Arian Salimi in the gold medal contest but was more than proud to see his Olympic dreams come true on the podium in Paris, hinting at bigger and better things to come.

"I've got no problem losing if the man is better than me on the day, and that's what he was," he said.

"I'm gutted I didn't get the gold for myself, my coach and my family and for Britain. However, I'm very proud to be here today.

"I work very hard and I stay with this, I'll be the king of taekwondo for the next four years, no problem.

Class personified.@cadenluiscun ???? pic.twitter.com/3SU6An5n0M

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 10, 2024

"One fight doesn't define me as a fighter, I'm sure people will have watched that and saw that I'm a strong fighter."

Having cruising through his round of 16 unscathed, taking down Niger's Abdoul Issoufou in just two rounds, Cunningham went up against Cuba's Rafael Alba.

The Brit took the first round before Alba fought back with a head kick to force a third round decider, Cunningham taking it 4-2.

With just one win away from a guaranteed Olympic medal, the fighter from Huddersfield was up against the Ivory Coast's Cheick Sallah Cisse in his semifinal.

Cisse famously beat Team GB's Lutalo Muhammad to gold in the final second at Rio 2016 but the Brits had their revenge this time round in Paris, coming out on top in the third round decider.

The gold medal contest against Iran's Arian Salimi fought valiantly in his final to take the first round of the bout but a last minute head kick by Salimi swung the result in his favour and Cunningham was forced to settle for silver on Olympic debut.

Just minutes earlier, Rebecca McGowan narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in the women's +67kg category, falling to Turkey's Nafia Kus Aydin in the bronze contest.

McGowan took the opening round 9-7 but Aydin forced a deciding round and was came away with victory.

Sportsbeat 2024