Britain’s Jade Jones will get the chance to win a record third Olympic taekwondo gold medal – but Bianca Cook has missed out on selection for Paris 2024.
Jones, 31, won back-to-back golds at London 2012 and Rio 2016, but suffered a surprise first-round defeat at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games.
The Welshwoman was picked for a fourth Olympics on Sunday after being named as one of Team GB’s four taekwondo athletes and will seek to become the first fighter to win three gold medals in the sport.
“This one feels extra special, almost like the very first again when I was 19,” said Jones, who competes in the -57kg category. “People don’t understand how hard it is to even qualify for an Olympics, so I am super proud and can’t wait to fight my heart out for GB and myself once again.”
However, there was disappointment for Liverpool-born Cook, whose dream of adding to her two Olympic bronze medals this summer is over. The 32-year-old, a triple world champion, was seeking a spot having recovered from surgery on both knees last year.
But Rebecca McGowan, 24, was picked ahead of Cook in the +67kg category after a stellar 2023 in which she won world silver.
The heavyweight Scot, who took up the sport at the age of six as a way to battle her best friend, also took a world bronze in 2022.
She and Jones will be joined in Paris by double world champion Bradly Sinden (-68kg), who will be hoping to improve on the silver medal he won in Tokyo three years ago, and European heavyweight champion Caden Cunningham.
Sinden, 25, was moments away from gold in Tokyo, losing out when Uzbekistan’s Ulugbek Rashitov delivered a strong trunk kick with six seconds remaining.
Cunningham, 21, meanwhile, will be making his Olympic debut and aiming to become the youngest-ever heavyweight champion.
A part-time fashion model, Cunningham won his first European title last month and a gold at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix a year ago.
The Olympics start on 26 July, with the taekwondo events taking place at the Grand Palais in Paris from 7 to 10 August.
