Bradly Sinden using World Grand Prix final in Manchester as springboard to Olympic redemption in Paris

Three years ago in Tokyo, the then-21-year-old was eight seconds away from Olympic gold when his final opponent Ulugbek Rashitov of Uzbekistan caught him unawares with a kick to the head and the body to snatch the title and leave Sinden with a disappointing silver.

Then in Guadalajara last summer, amid a year of rule changes by the sport’s governing body, Sinden lost the world title he had won in Manchester in 2019 again in an agonising final defeat. But 2023 has been all about winning back the big prizes he believes belong to him, and gives him great heart that he can add Olympic gold to world championship gold in Paris next summer.

“We prioritised the world championships this year and after a few decisions went against me and I only got silver last year, I was eager to rectify that situation and get my gold medal back as quickly as possible,” Sinden told The Yorkshire Post.

“We worked on the new system, worked on different fight styles for that system and it paid off with me getting the gold medal.

“It was nice to prove that even though we’ve had the rule changes like some of the kicks that I’m really good at they took away, that I’ve still got it, I’m still a contender, still one of the world’s best, still a favourite going into Paris and to prove to myself that I can go there and perform on the biggest stage.”

What no one can ever say is that he didn’t perform on the grandest of stages back in Tokyo.

What happened was, to an extent, out of his control due to a sport in which there are a lot of variables including an opponent who has the same goal as you do.

But he has been driven by a belief that his Olympic opponent capitalised on his mistake, so after transitioning to the new rule changes in 2022, this year’s training programme at the GB Taekwondo base in Manchester has been all about eliminating the number of variables.

“In general I fought really well at the Olympics, you can never not make a mistake in a fight, it’s just I made a vital one that cost me in the end,” reflected Sinden, now 25.

“Sometimes things happen. At the end of the day it’s two people going for gold and every time you’ve got someone in front of you, there are a lot of variables that can cause you to lose, even if you’re fighting really well.

“We work on it a lot here in Manchester, trying to be the best you can be. If you’re doing that, what else can you do? Do what you’ve been training, do what you’ve been practicing – if you lose, you’ve lost doing your best. It’s all about coming away with no regrets in the end.

“You accept if someone is better than you, but in Tokyo I did make a mistake that cost me. It’s what you always remember.

“It’s trying to put you in those situations here in the gym in Manchester. We do a lot of things in training and sparring to frustrate each other to learn how to adapt to situations.

“We push ourselves so it’s less of a shock when it happens in the ring.”

Part of that has been inviting athletes from rival nations over for training camps ahead of the season-ending World Grand Prix finals in Manchester which begin on Friday.

“That’s the point of these training camps, being able to identify what they’re working on, being able to adapt, and to try things,” said Sinden. “If I’m going to get kicked in the head I need to learn it here so that when I get into that ring I can score and not concede.

“I want to be simulating what I’m going to be doing in that GP final in Manchester and if there’s tweaks needed, great, if not, I know I’m on the right track.

“Even for the GP final, I want to perform, I want to win gold because it’s on home soil, but I’ve qualified my spot for the Olympics, some of my competitors haven’t, so everything is all about learning.

“If I was to lose but come away from it thinking ‘that’s helped me become Olympic champion’, that’s what I want. Everything from now until then is for that gold in Paris.”

Sinden’s fellow Yorkshire athletes Caden Cunningham in the 80kg and Aaliyah Powell in the lightweight category – both of Huddersfield – are in action this weekend looking to finish their season on a high and secure a place at the Olympic Games.

But for Sinden, his journey to a second Games is all about redemption. “Tokyo will be with me for life, but if I win gold in Paris I wouldn’t care so much,” he said.

“Winning the worlds again, it was not about wanting to be a double world champion, it was about these rule changes and still showing I can still win this. That was a different type of goal.

“If I don’t win in Paris then you’ll always be thinking about Tokyo, but you get on with it because that’s life.”

Tickets can still be bought for the GP Final on the day on both Saturday and Sunday.