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Aaron Arthur Cook (born 2 January 1991) is a taekwondo athlete who has represented Great Britain (the nation of his birth), the Isle of Man, and Moldova. He has been ranked the number one in the men's −80 kg division on several occasions. He is a three-time European champion having won the −80 kg title at the
European Taekwondo Championships The European Taekwondo Championships are the European senior championships in Taekwondo, first held in Barcelona in 1976. The event is held every two years and is organized by the European Taekwondo Union, the continental affiliate of World Taekw ...
in
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,
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representing Great Britain and
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
representing the Isle of Man, and was the world junior champion in the −78 kg division in 2008. He represented Great Britain in the
2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
in Beijing, where he reached the semi-final and was narrowly defeated in the bronze medal match. He was controversially left out of the British team for the
2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in London despite being the world no. 1-ranked competitor in the −80 kg division when the
British Taekwondo Control Board ''British Taekwondo Limited'', operating as British Taekwondo is the National Governing Body for World Taekwondo in Great Britain. It is a member of, and recognised by, World Taekwondo, the international governing body for taekwondo as recogni ...
selected Lutalo Muhammad (who was ranked world no. 59 in −80 kg and world no. 7 in −87 kg). Following this, Cook indicated he could no longer work with the governing authorities in Great Britain, and switched allegiance to the Isle of Man. This move to a non-Olympic nation ostensibly allowed Cook to achieve qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics for Great Britain, the country for which Isle of Man athletes participate at the Olympics. He represented the Isle of Man in international tournaments from February 2013 until 2015 when following further discussions with the Great Britain authorities, Cook sought and obtained Moldovan citizenship and announced that he would compete for Moldova. At the
2015 World Taekwondo Championships The 2015 World Taekwondo Championships were the 22nd edition of the World Taekwondo Championships, and were held in Chelyabinsk, Russia from May 12 to May 18, 2015. The decision to award the games to Russia was made in 2013 as they out-voted bo ...
, Cook represented his new country for the first time, losing to former Great Britain teammate Damon Sansum in the semi-final. Despite this, Cook won the bronze medal in his weight category, his first medal in a World Championship. Cook later won silver at the 2018 European Taekwondo Championships in Kazan in the 80 kg weight category.


Early life

He was born in Dorchester, Dorset, and attended The Thomas Hardye School.


Career


International breakthrough

Cook made his breakthrough into senior competition at the 2007 Dutch Open Championships, held in
Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Torann Mazeroi ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...
12–10 in the semi-finals. The following week Cook appeared in the German Open Championships in Bonn and took his maiden senior open title. In the final he defeated his fellow British competitor
Davoud Etminani Davoud is a given name. Notable people with the name include: Davoud A., scientist and CEO *Davoud Abedinzadeh (born 1986), Iranian wrestler *Davoud Daneshdoost (born 1985), Iranian footballer *Davoud Danesh-Jafari, Minister of Economy and Finance A ...
12–11. He then went to compete and secured his place on the British team for the
2007 World Taekwondo Championships The 2007 World Taekwondo Championships were the 18th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships, and were held in Beijing, China from May 18 to May 22, 2007. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Team ranking Men Women Referen ...
at a closed-door round robin competition held at
Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...
. At the 2007 World Taekwondo Championship he defeated
Gauti Mar Gundason is an early Germanic name, from a Proto-Germanic ''gautaz'', which represents a mythical ancestor or national god in the origin myth of the Geats. Etymology ''Gautaz'' may be connected to the name of the Swedish river Göta älv at the c ...
of Iceland in the first round. In the second round he faced the toughest opponent of his young career, Hadi Saei of Iran who had won gold medals at both the
2005 World Taekwondo Championships The 2005 World Taekwondo Championships were the 17th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships, and were held in Madrid, Spain from 13 to 17 April 2005. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Team ranking South Korea won both men’s and ...
and the
2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
. Cook could not get past the experienced Iranian and lost with a score of 11–6. Later in his debut year, Cook qualified for a spot on the British team for the 2008 Olympic Games by competing at the 2007 World Qualification Tournament held at the MEN Arena in Manchester. In the first round he faced Ireland's Sean Joyce and won 9–2. He then won with the same score against Switzerland's
Markus Jiskra Markus Jiskra is a Swiss international taekwondo practitioner. He reached the quarter-final of the 2008 European Championships in Rome, and competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX O ...
. In the last 16, Cook faced Philippines' Alexander Briones and won with a score of 5–2. In the quarter-finals, Cook's tournament ended in a 5–3 defeat to the 6 ft 5in Italian
Mauro Sarmiento Mauro Sarmiento (born August 10, 1983) is an Italian martial artist. He was born in Casoria, Italy, and represented Italy in Taekwondo at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 80 kg, and won the silver medal, upsetting two-time Olympic champion St ...
.


2008 Olympic Games

At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Cook began by defeating
Anju Jason Anju Jason (born November 21, 1987) became the first Marshallese sportsperson in history to qualify for the Olympics in 2008. He competes in taekwondo. He took 27th place and received no official recognition. Jason, who was born in the Marsha ...
of the Marshall Islands 7–0 in his first match. The second match was against a stronger competitor, but he defeated Carlos Vasquez of Venezuela 5–2. In the semi-finals Cook lost to Italy's
Mauro Sarmiento Mauro Sarmiento (born August 10, 1983) is an Italian martial artist. He was born in Casoria, Italy, and represented Italy in Taekwondo at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 80 kg, and won the silver medal, upsetting two-time Olympic champion St ...
. Cook and Sarmiento had been tied 5–5 with going into the last 10 seconds of the bout, but Sarmiento scored a crucial late strike to win 6–5. After defeat his semi-final defeat, Cook faced Zhu Guo of China in the bronze medal match. Cook lost the match 4–1. He was baffled that the British supporting team did not make an appeal during the first round of the bout when the judges missed a clear offensive kick which connected with the Chinese fighter's head which would have given Cook a 2–1 lead. Cook was later penalised a point for receiving two warnings.


World Taekwondo Tour 2009

At the inaugural World Taekwondo Tour event in Mexico City, Cook came from behind to defeat the American former Olympic and world champion
Steven López Steven López (born November 9, 1978) is an American taekwondo competitor, a 2000 and 2004 Olympic gold medalist (in the -68 and -80 kg divisions, respectively) and a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist (again in the -80 kg division) and 4th ...
with a knockout victory in the −80 kg final. In the second round of the match, Cook sent López to the floor with a headshot. After winning £17,880 Cook said "To beat the world champion makes it the greatest win in my career so far. It is amazing to take gold."


2012 Summer Olympics

Cook became the world no. 1-ranked competitor in the −80 kg division for the first time in June 2010. Following a surprise defeat in his opening bout at the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships, Cook decided to leave British Taekwondo's training programme and focus on his own training programme using his own coaches, including ex Manchester United F.C Strength and Conditioning coach Mick Clegg and funded by his own sponsors. After leaving the British Taekwondo set-up, he won a number of tournaments including the Olympic test event in London in December 2011 as well as successfully defending his −80 kg title at the 2012 European Championships. He regained the world no. 1 ranking a few months before the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The British Taekwondo Control Board selected Lutalo Muhammad as their competitor in the −80 kg instead of Cook for the olympics. Muhammad was the European champion in the non-Olympic −87 kg category, and was ranked the world no. 7 in the −87 kg division and the world no. 59 in the −80 kg division. Cook had won two of the three competitive bouts between himself and Muhammad and had considerably more international competitive experience. His omission was controversial and he considered legal action to overturn the decision, his agent saying: "If the British world number one and reigning European Champion does not compete, it will be a national disgrace. This is an embarrassment not only for the sport of taekwondo internationally, but also for Great Britain's international reputation in hosting the London 2012 Games." Many in the British sporting community and the press voiced concerns that Cook had been deliberately overlooked due to his decision to leave the British Taekwondo training programme as this had left the national association feeling slighted by Cook. However, Team GB Taekwondo performance director Gary Hall commented on the controversy by saying: "In some ways, Aaron has a bigger marketing machine than the whole of GB Taekwondo." Women's world champion Sarah Stevenson defended the selection, saying that: "To be world number one on a rankings system is not what taekwondo is, it doesn't mean you're the best in the world. I don't even care or know what ranking I am, and people need to realise this. It's really unfair that GB Taekwondo are getting criticised for not picking a world number one." The British Olympic Association (BOA) initially refused to ratify Muhammad's selection, but eventually endorsed the decision after a second selection committee meeting, held with a BOA observer present, led to a confirmation of Muhammad's selection.


Competitor for Isle of Man

Following his omission from the British Olympic team, Cook decided to represent the Isle of Man (a British Crown dependency) instead of Great Britain in international competitions. Athletes from the Isle of Man are eligible to represent Great Britain in the Olympic Games. Cook represented the Isle of Man for the first time at the 2013 Swedish Open, going on to win the gold medal in the −80 kg category. Competing for the Isle of Man, Cook won the gold medal at the Pan American Open in Mexico in 2013 by beating Beat Mexico 15–3, Canada 16–4, USA 14–5 and Costa Rica in final 12–3. He was also awarded best fighter in the tournament. At the end of 2013, Cook again regained the world no. 1 ranking in the −80 kg division. In 2014, Cook won the −80 kg title at the European Championships for the third time, beating Britain's
Damon Sansum Damon Sansum (born 18 February 1987) is a British taekwondo athlete. He won the silver medal at the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships in the Men's welterweight category. In 2017 he competed again in the world championships A world champio ...
in the final.


Moldovan citizenship

After 12 months of further discussion between Cook, British Taekwondo and the BOA, after an approach by Moldovan billionaire , who is also president of Moldova's taekwondo federation, sponsored by Iuzefovici, Cook gained Moldovan citizenship and a passport. He announced in April 2015 his intention to represent Moldova specifically at the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
in Rio de Janeiro. In April 2015 the British Olympic Association agreed to Cook's request to switch nations. Cook won a bronze medal for Moldova at the
2015 World Taekwondo Championships The 2015 World Taekwondo Championships were the 22nd edition of the World Taekwondo Championships, and were held in Chelyabinsk, Russia from May 12 to May 18, 2015. The decision to award the games to Russia was made in 2013 as they out-voted bo ...
in Russia in May 2015 where he was beaten by
Damon Sansum Damon Sansum (born 18 February 1987) is a British taekwondo athlete. He won the silver medal at the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships in the Men's welterweight category. In 2017 he competed again in the world championships A world champio ...
.


2016 Summer Olympics

Representing Moldova, Cook was eliminated in the last sixteen by Liu Wei-ting of Chinese Taipei with a score of 14–2.


2018

Competing for Moldova at the 24th Zagreb Open in Croatia, Cook won Gold after beating Luka Horvat 24–7 in the Male -80kg Final. This result was closely followed by a dominant display at the 14th French Open in Paris in which Cook once again claimed Gold in the -80kg male final by beating Maxime Potvin of Canada 19–15.


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Aaron 1991 births Living people English male taekwondo practitioners Manx male taekwondo practitioners Moldovan male taekwondo practitioners Naturalised citizens of Moldova Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Great Britain Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Moldova Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Taekwondo Championships medalists European Taekwondo Championships medalists European Games competitors for Moldova Taekwondo practitioners at the 2015 European Games Sportspeople from Dorchester, Dorset