Matt Bush

Started: He took up martial arts at age 18, and began Para taekwondo in 2017. (gbtaekwondo.co.uk, 28 Mar 2023) Reason: He tried other martial arts, including ju-jitsu, before he took up Para taekwondo. "I did Japanese ju-jitsu initially because I had an interest in the UFC/MMA and wanted to find something close to that. I quickly realised I was more interested in the grappling side of it instead, so as soon as a Brazilian ju-jitsu club opened I signed up to that. As for taekwondo itself, I was doing javelin at the time and had an injury that ruled me out of qualifying for the Rio [Paralympics] in 2016. Through Sport Wales, I heard that taekwondo was going to join the Paralympic movement and because it was similar to the other martial arts I had done, they brought me up for a trial and GB Taekwondo were on board, so it all took off from there really." (westerntelegraph.co.uk, 30 Nov 2023; gbtaekwondo.co.uk, 28 Mar 2023; bbc.co.uk, 19 Mar 2021; BBC Sport Wales Facebook page, 29 Mar 2021) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (bbc.com, 18 Jun 2024) Milestones: He became the first male athlete representing Great Britain in Para taekwondo to win a gold medal at the world championships, securing victory in the K44 +75kg category at the 2019 edition of the tournament in Antalya, Turkiye. (bbc.co.uk, 05 Feb 2019) Additional Info: OTHER ACTIVITIES He has worked at his family's dairy business in Wales. "It's really important to have things outside the sport, people can make the mistake of having their identity in the sport, then you don't have any frame of reference." (bbc.com, 18 Jun 2024, 19 Mar 2021)