A defiant Caden Cunningham declared himself “hungry” for gold after narrowly losing the men’s +80kg taekwondo final to Iran’s Arian Salimi in the dying seconds of the fight. The Ivorian Cheick Sallah Cissé and the Cuban Rafael Alba both won bronze.
Cunningham did not achieve his dream of becoming the first British man to win a taekwondo gold, but speaking after claiming the silver medal at the Grand Palais in Paris, the 21-year-old said he was “happy and excited for the future”.
“I believe I’m at the level where I could get golds, I was just bettered today,” he said. “So I will be going back to the gym to make sure that doesn’t happen again. But I’m confident. I know how hard I work. They say hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard – it’s a good job I’ve got both. So going forward, I’m going to use my talent [and] mix it in with even more hard work. I’m going to find it from somewhere, I’m hungry now.”
Cunningham, who loves to talk about “kicking people in the face”, showed no mercy from the opening, spinning, switching his bouncing feet from right to left and landing a series of kicks to his opponent in the opening minutes. Salimi, the taller fighter, windmilled his longer legs in Cunningham’s direction, but the British fighter took the first round 6-3.
The second round went 9-1 in the Iranian’s direction and the match went to a deciding third round. The last few minutes were a testy affair but in the closing moments the Iranian landed a kick to Cunningham’s face and it was enough for him to take the round 6-3 and secure the gold medal in his first Olympics.
There was also heartbreak for Team GB in the previous fight as Rebecca McGowan lost the bronze medal bout to Turkey’s world champion Nafia Kus, despite a strong start in which she landed a bullseye kick to the face of her opponent in the first round. The British fighter, a world silver medallist, looked utterly dejected after losing the fight, in which her opponent capitalised on the counterattack.
Further upset came for Great Britain when Bradly Sinden, a silver medallist in Tokyo, pulled out of his bronze fight in the men’s 68kg event against Liang Yushuai through injury.
To get to the men’s gold medal match, Cunningham had shown the mentality of an Olympian during the rapid-fire day of competition. He went on the run of his life at these Games to get to the final, beating previous Olympic medal winners in all three rounds. He overcame Abdoul Issoufou, who took silver in Rio, in the first fight; Rafael Alba of Cuba, who won bronze in Tokyo, in the quarter-final; and Ivorian Cissé, who won gold at the 2023 world championships and gold at Rio, in the semi-final.
“I found my performances today, I took on some big opponents. Three world champions, three Olympic medallists. So I’m proud. I’m happy,” Cunningham said after the fight.
Cunningham, who became the European heavyweight champion in May, was aiming to follow in the footsteps of the two-time Olympic champion Jade Jones, who went out in a shock first-round defeat in Paris.
The Huddersfield fighter started his journey to the Olympics as a six-year-old wanting to follow in the footsteps of his kickboxer father. At 10 – in between planks and press-ups – they decided Paris 2024 was the moment for his Olympic debut. The last few years have not been easy for him. He suffered an anterior crucial ligament injury at the world championships in 2022. Six months out of training and competition saw him tumble down the rankings.
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But Cunningham came back quickly, talking about his injury as “ a blessing” which has made him mentally and physically stronger. Last year he won gold at his European Games debut.
Opportunities for him to take Olympic gold will surely come. That is, at least, if Cunningham stays in the sport. He has been open about his love of mixed martial arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a significantly more lucrative path than any Olympic career. Another option is his budding modelling career – GQ magazine recently called him “an Olympic prince (and a menswear king)” – which could provide another revenue stream.
Last night he said “never say never” about joining the UFC: “If I stay in taekwondo, I’ll be the king of heavyweight taekwondo. If I move over, I’ll work at UFC until I’m the best.”
Cunningham has talked often about his desire to motivate and inspire his nephews and nieces and the mention of them last night brought a huge smile to his face.
“I hope that they can’t talk anymore because they have been screaming so much,” he said. “I love them all so much, all my nieces, nephews, siblings, parents, everyone. It’s a big part of why I work so hard and why I do this, so that they can look up and go: my favourite uncle is amazing. I can do things like my favourite uncle.”
