DORCHESTER athlete Aaron Cook admitted he was “devastated” to have been knocked out of the opening round of the men’s -80kg taekwondo event in Rio.
The county town fighter, now representing Moldova after he was not selected for London 2012 by Team GB in place of Lutalo Muhammad, suffered a heavy 14-2 loss to Wei-Ting Liu of Chinese Taipei yesterday.
Cook’s hopes of going through the bronze medal repechage ended when Liu was beaten in the quarter-finals.
“I’m devastated,” Cook said.
“I made the switch from GB after the devastation of missing London 2012 and not feeling I had a way back.
“Moldova gave me a chance and had such high hopes.”
Muhammad, a bronze medallist in London, had his gold medal dream dashed in the final second of a dramatic final at the Rio Olympic Park.
Ivory Coast’s Cheick Sallah Cisse swung a last-gasp head-kick which snatched an 8-6 win just as the final buzzer sounded.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel