Bianca Cook misses out on Team GB Olympic taekwondo place as Jade Jones targets third gold

Bianca Cook is a two-time Olympic bronze medallist but won’t be able to fulfil her career-long quest for an Olympic gold (PA Archive)

Double Olympic champion Jade Jones will spearhead Great Britain’s four-strong taekwondo challenge at Paris 2024.

The 31-year-old Welsh athlete is set to equal Sarah Stevenson’s record of competing at four Olympic Games for Team GB’s taekwondo squad.

“This will be my fourth Olympic Games, fifth including the Youth Olympics,” said Jones, who became Britain’s first taekwondo gold medallist at London 2012 before retaining her title in Rio de Janeiro four years later.

“This one feels extra special, almost like the very first again when I was 19.

“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.”

Jones will be joined in Paris by Doncaster’s double world champion Bradly Sinden.

The 25-year-old’s silver at Tokyo 2020 made him only the second British man to win a medal since the sport was introduced to the Games in 2000.

European champions Caden Cunningham, 21, and Rebecca McGowan, 24, complete the squad, with both heavyweights making their Olympic debuts.

Part-time fashion model Cunningham, from Huddersfield, became European champion for the first time last month and won a gold medal at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in June 2023.

The selection of Dumbarton’s McGowan means heartbreak for Bianca Cook, the three-time world champion who had hoped to go to Paris to claim the one major title that still eludes her.

For Cook, who had to settle for successive bronze medals in Rio and Tokyo, the news will hit close to home.

Her husband Aaron Cook, then world number one, was controversially omitted from the team for London 2012 in favour of eventual bronze medallist Lutalo Muhammad.

Team GB chef de mission Mark England said: “It brings us immense pleasure to have this talented team travelling to Paris this summer.

“We welcome back Jade and Bradly, as they each seek to write their own new and exciting chapters in Team GB’s Olympic history.

“We also would like to welcome Rebecca and Caden into the team for their first Games, with every confidence they will both flourish in Paris.

“I know this was an incredibly competitive selection process, but we are excited to support this formidable collection of athletes as they strive to make more history in Paris.”