College student wins gold at European championships
LOUGHBOROUGH College has helped boost Great Britain’s medal haul in a record performance at the 2018 Taekwondo European Championships.
Lauren Williams defended her title to win gold and Bradly Sinden claimed bronze in Kazan, Russia.
Sport student Lauren’s golden performance saw her beat Turkey’s Nur Tatar 14-11 in the -67kg final.
The 19-year-old also took gold in the US Open and bronze in the Sofia Open this year. Fellow Loughborough College Sport student Bradly added to the British team’s medal tally with bronze in the -63kg category after reaching the last four and securing a 27-13 victory against Belgium’s 2015 world champion Jaouad Achab.
Jade Jones won -57kg gold at the Championships and it was after watching Jade become Olympic champion at London 2012 that Lauren switched from kickboxing to Taekwondo – going on to become Junior World Champion in 2014.
Only months after beginning to fight as a senior in 2016, Lauren struck gold at the European Championships in Montreux and was selected as a reserve for the Olympic Games in Rio. Lauren went on to beat reign- ing world champion Tuth Gbagbi at last year’s World Taekwondo Grand Prix in London.
Bradly won gold at the junior European Championships and bronze at the 2017 World Championships followed by silver at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in London.
“The Fighting Chance talent identification initiative spotted Lauren as having potential for the Olympic martial arts team and there is no doubt she is a big prospect for Tokyo 2020,” said Andy Motch, deputy manager for work related sport at Loughborough College.
“Lauren and Bradly are two of five College students on our elite sport programme with GB Taekwondo. Alongside their education, they benefit from specialized training in a fantastic environment, training with the likes of Olympian Jade Jones.
“We have long-standing expertise in education with elite athletes and fully support flexible teaching for Lauren and Bradly, which enables them to train and compete on the world stage. Their courses include psychology, which productively feeds into their sporting performance.
“Our elite sport team at Loughborough College is incredibly proud of both Lauren and Bradly’s performance for Great Britain in Russia.”