Caden Cunningham wins taekwondo medal he dreamt aged 10 – but will the Olympics ever see him again?

On the finish of a fierce closing beneath the excessive domed ceiling of the Grand Palais, Caden Cunningham settled for silver. He smiled and graciously raised the hand of the brand new Olympic heavyweight champion, Iran’s Arian Salimi, who snatched victory within the deciding spherical of this combat after sending a protracted tentacled leg behind Cunningham to faucet the sensor on his head guard.

Cunningham is simply 21 and his probability will come once more. In some ways this was the night time he introduced himself to the world, however the outlines have been sketched a decade in the past in his household front room, when a 10-year-old Cunningham and his dad hatched a plan to qualify for the Olympics in 2024.

“I wished to maneuver over to kickboxing however that isn’t within the Olympics, so after we checked out it we thought, no, let’s keep on with taekwondo,” Cunningham advised The Impartial earlier than the Video games. “Me and my dad labored out that by Paris, that’s after I’d be sufficiently old to compete. That’s after I determined. I skilled each single second I may.”

He devoted himself to the game, and the exhausting work paid off right here on a tense run to the ultimate.

Cunningham first beat Niger’s Abdoul Issoufou in two straight rounds, after which noticed off Cuba’s Rafael Alba within the deciding spherical of their quarter-final. Within the semi-finals, the No 4-ranked Cunningham met Ivory Coast’s Cheick Sallah Cisse, the world champion and No 1. That they had shared some tetchy bouts earlier than and this was one other feisty contest that went to the wire. They completed the deciding spherical with 5 factors every and Cunningham progressed by advantage of his superior tally of non-scoring pictures.

That arrange the ultimate in opposition to Salimi, the champion of Asia ranked tenth. Salimi is rangy and tall, and tried to make use of his lengthy legs to land three-point head pictures within the early phases, however Cunningham ducked and spun and fired into the physique for 2 factors himself, to take the primary spherical.

The second spherical was cagey as Salimi selected his moments extra rigorously, and this time his toe prolonged out and clipped Cunningham’s head guard to pressure a decider. There, two extra head kicks proved decisive for gold.

Regardless of defeat, Cunningham lapped up the second, enjoying to the group and relishing the Olympic stage.

“I’m happy with myself,” he stated. “Gutted, however I’m proud nonetheless. I’ve executed job right now, took out some large folks. That fighter was wonderful, he was higher than me right now, in order that’s on me. We’ll work to make it higher so there’s none of this silver occurring.

“My opponent was the identical as me: after we’re within the ring we’re able to kill; exterior, respect.”

Cunningham took up the game aged six, inheriting his father’s love of martial arts, and he was quickly mapping out his Olympic future. He would tackle fights in opposition to greater, stronger boys who would depart him feeling “overwhelmed up”, however he loved the problem of studying the abilities to beat the bodily deficit.

He suffered a serious setback in his first combat of the 2022 World Championships when he felt the anterior cruciate ligament snap in his knee. However Cunningham’s perspective was to harness the adversity. “I simply thought, that is going to make it a cooler story after I do go [to the Olympics]. I actually knuckled down. I noticed it as a possibility to develop and are available again an absolute monster. And that’s what I did.”

The longer term may very well be something for Cunningham now. He has taken up part-time modelling with cowl shoots for magazines –  GQ lately referred to as him “an Olympic prince (and a menswear king)”. He additionally has goals of conquering UFC sooner or later, and his designs on the extra violent, profitable world of blended martial arts are critical.

He advised The Impartial earlier than the Video games: “UFC can wait till I’ve acquired my gold medal.” That may take one other 4 years a minimum of, and he should quickly resolve whether or not to chase that Olympic crown at Los Angeles 2028, or begin a brand new path.

Requested what the long run held after this closing, he stated: “It’s the begin of no matter I need it to be. If I keep on this, I would be the king of taekwondo within the subsequent 4 years. One combat doesn’t outline me as a fighter.”