Stockwell resident Mahama Cho will compete in the Olympic men’s taekwondo 80kg+ in Rio tomorrow.
The 27-year-old, born in the Ivory Coast, took Team GB’s final taekwondo quota spot for the Games.
He will start competing tomorrow afternoon, and if he progresses, the next stages of the event will continue in the evening and into the early hours of Sunday.
Cho has represented Britain at senior international level since 2009 and has competed at both European and World Championship level.
The athlete won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Championships, as well as at the Paris, the Swiss and the Bahrain Open competitions.
Cho stepped back from taekwondo for a while after he missed out on selection for London 2012.
He quit all together when he was unable to compete in the 2013 World Championships, before his father and British Taekwondo performance director Gary Hall talked him around.
“Absolutely I’m confident,” Cho said. “I think that’s a question that’s been going through a lot of Olympians’ minds before they get out to Rio.
“I think that’s a question that’s been going through a lot of Olympians’ minds before they get out to Rio.
“But it’s one thing believing, and it’s one thing seeing it. I’m seeing it, and when I see something, I know it’s achievable and I know that it can happen.
“When I can see it and I can smell it, I know that my mind is there, so I’m really looking forward to getting out there now.”
