Caden Cunningham single-minded in pursuit of Olympic gold as Jade Jones gets nod over Aaliyah Powell in taekwondo squad

Even when he was undergoing separate surgeries to repair a damaged ACL and then a foot injury in the last two years, setbacks that still could not stop him winning gold in the heavyweight division at the European Games last autumn, he was not distracted from the mission at hand.

“I’ve been planning this for 10 years,” Cunningham, who warmed up for the Olympics by winning gold in May’s European Championships, told The Yorkshire Post.

“I was figuring out whether I wanted to do kickboxing or taekwondo and when I realised taekwondo was in the Olympics I chose that when I was about 10.

“Since then it’s all been about growing towards this. The medals I’ve achieved so far are just stepping stones, just little challenges on the road. They’ve all been the steps necessary to get to the Olympics.

“This has been in the works for a long time. My mum and dad have been committed to helping me train and develop, so I’m very grateful to them.

“My mindset has been very strong towards what I want to achieve in life. Selection for the Olympics just reaffirms that. There was never really a doubt in my mind that I was going to get to this one.

“All the little bumps in the road you go through just make it all the more worthwhile. Once I qualified it was a case of ‘okay, cool, let’s get back into training’.”

Given that drive, it is little surprise what the Olympic debutant’s ambition is for the 80kg competition in Paris on Saturday, August 10.

“I’m going there to win, 100 per cent. The only medal is gold,” said Cunningham, who will be cheered on by the members of Premier and Quest taekwondo clubs where he learned the sport. “I’ll go there as relaxed as I can be, perform well and I’ll get what I’ve earned.”

Cunningham will be joined in Paris by Doncaster’s double world champion Bradly Sinden, who was a disappointed silver medallist in Tokyo but gets another chance in the 68kg division. There is no place for Huddersfield’s Aaliyah Powell, however, in the four-strong GB Olympic taekwondo squad, with selectors opting for the experienced Jade Jones in the 57kg category instead, despite Powell having beaten Jones in the World Grand Prix in Manchester in December.