Muhammad battles to bronze

by UK Sport - 10.08.12

London—born Lutalo Muhammad won a bronze medal in an intense battle with Arman Yeremyan in the men’s -80kg Taekwondo at the Excel Centre.

Having participated in the sport since the age of three, Lutalo’s potential for the sport was spotted by the UK Sport/English Institute of Sport (EIS) talent transfer initiative ‘Fighting Chance’ when it was launched in 2009. He was identified through a series of assessment weekends, followed by a 'bootcamp' training period in Manchester with GB Taekwondo. Following this he was selected to be in the GB Taekwondo Academy in early 2010 however he wanted to finish his University degree so delayed his entry to the academy until later in 2010.

Taekwondo relocated to the GB Taekwondo Academy in 2011. The facility underwent a major refurbishment thanks to a project supported by Sport England, UK Sport and Manchester City Council in order to create a new home for the sport, where the athletes are supported by cutting edge coaching and technology plus back up from the EIS.

UK Sport funding, totalling over £4.8million for the London cycle (up from £2.7million for Beijing), has allowed the sport to attract recruit a team of High Performance coaches and support staff which according to GB Taekwondo Performance Director Gary Hall  is the ‘envy of the taekwondo world’.

One such coach, Joseph Salim, has been working alongside Lutalo enabling him to go from strength to strength, including winning gold at the 2012 European Championships leading to his selection for the Olympic Team and that Olympic gold medal win.

The English Institute of Sport (EIS) has worked with GB Taekwondo since 2004, predominantly delivering support out of the sport’s Manchester training base as well as EIS Performance Centre at SportCity, Manchester.

Integrated within the programme, EIS support staff deliver multidisciplinary support both in training and away at camps and competitions around the world.

To find out more about EIS support to GB Taekwondo view our Taekwondo Olympic support profile

Photography © Getty Images