Team GB athlete Bradly Sinden has been denied a chance to compete for the bronze medal in the men’s taekwondo -68kg event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Briton had been due to face China’s Yushuai Liang on Thursday night after he lost to Jordan’s Zaid Kareen earlier in the day.
But the 25-year-old has been forced to withdraw from the fight after he was seen limping during that particular clash, with the injury deemed to be too painful for him to participate.
A Team GB statement read: “Due to an injury sustained in his quarter-final earlier today, Bradly Sinden is sadly unable to compete for bronze in the men’s -68kg taekwondo competition this evening.”
Sinden, a silver medalist at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics three years ago, explained how he sustained an injury against Croatia’s Marko Golubic, which ultimately cost him despite continuing with the fight.
“So in my second fight against Croatia, I don’t know what exactly I did but I did a kick and I felt a twinge in my left knee, my MCL,” Sinden told BBC Sport. “I carried on in the fight and I felt it go and I know the feeling because I’ve done my right one before. It’s just frustrating.
“I knew I wouldn’t able to do the gameplan I wanted to do in the semi-finals. I thought I could give it a good go. It was hard. It could’ve gone my way but just a bit too much in the end.
“Obviously we all mind losing but if I could do my full best and then lose… I would’ve 100 per cent in the bronze medal match given it my best to bring a bronze medal for Team GB.
“But with the injury I just don’t think I had it in me to go and perform and bring home a medal. I’ve took the tough decision. I didn’t want to end Paris 2024 like this but sometimes your body has different plans for you.
Sinden would have had high hopes of winning bronze after being crowned champion at the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships, becoming the first British male to do so. He then followed that up with a silver medal performance in Japan, before losing 34–29 against Ulugbek Rashitov.
But the Doncaster native admitted he would’ve only wanted to win gold anyway after his previous effort to win silver.
“It was gold or nothing for me here. Obviously if it wasn’t an injury I would’ve come back for the bronze because an Olympic medal is an amazing achievement,” he added.
“But it’s sadness, frustration, anger because I didn’t want this chapter of Paris 2024 to end with my body making me pull out. It’s an injury that stopped me from performing my best.
“I was upset and I had myself a little cry because there’s a lot of emotions, especially at the Olympics, it’s high intensity. But I’ve just got to remind myself that I am privileged.”
