‘I’m a Scouse girl and a tomboy – I love a good scrap’
Bianca Walkden’s success has earned taekwondo its first SPOTY nomination, writes Oliver Brown
In 1985, a letter to The New York Times sought to elucidate the magic of the correspondent’s beloved taekwondo. “Blend the grace of ballet, the precision of ice skating, the noble fury of boxing, the concentration of chess,” wrote Ken Zeserson, of Willow, in the Hudson Valley, “and you will begin to appreciate its beauty.” As a statement upon her craft, Bianca Walkden believes it could hardly be bettered. In her words: “There are so many more elements to it than trying to knock someone out.”
For all that tonight’s Sports Personality of the Year soirée is likely to be the Anthony Joshua show, it is taking place on Walkden’s turf. The Echo Arena at Liverpool’s Kings Dock is but a few miles from Broughton Hall High School, her alma mater, and she is counting on more than a little Merseyside solidarity. “I hope they don’t let me come last,” she laughs. “Tony Bellew will vote for me, I’m sure, even though Anthony Joshua’s there.”
In purely sporting terms, there is little reason why Walkden should consider herself a bridesmaid. This year, at 26, she has captured five successive global titles, becoming the first fighter, male or female, to hold all four grand prix trophies at the same time. Jade Jones, herself a double Olympic champion, believes that not enough people beyond the martial arts bubble have awoken to the scale of such a feat. “In my career, I don’t just want to go through the motions,” Walkden says. “I want to be remembered as one of the best heavyweights ever.”
Not so long ago, Walkden endured a “whole lot of devastation” at missing out on the London Olympics, but in 2017 she has toasted triumphs in all that she has touched. From Moscow to Morocco, London to the Ivory Coast, her record is immaculate. Indeed, since sealing a bronze at her last Games in Rio, she has lost just once, a streak of dominance that only Joshua can rival.
Taekwondo is a sport with complex philosophical underpinnings – ancient Korean warriors would be guided by such tenets as yeomchi (integrity) or geugki (self-control) – but Walkden’s own approach is bracingly straightforward. “Normally, I love to wear a dress, but I’m a Scouse girl at heart,” she explains. “But that means I love a good scrap, too. When I go to the gym, I throw my hair up, act like a tomboy. I’m a true fighter.”
Some grandmasters of the art will claim that taekwondo signifies the perfect fusion of mind, body and spirit, so that fighters might learn to create a more peaceful world. Walkden, though, wastes little time on these highfalutin theories. For her, the thrill is a purely visceral one. “Kicking someone in the head is the best feeling ever,” she says.
A gifted athlete ever since she won cross-country medals as a child, Walkden attributes her startling recent rise to greater mental poise. It is progress she has achieved with the help of Dr Steve Peters, he of the infamous “inner chimp” paradox, who has helped coax both Jonny Wilkinson and Ronnie O’Sullivan to greatness. “It is the psychological side that’s the hardest,” she argues. “You have to remember your tactics. There is so much movement, reaction, instant decision-making. You can be the best kicker in the world, but if you don’t have the mental side, you’ll be the one who cracks.” Walkden fell short of her own expectations at her last Olympics in Brazil, so crestfallen at losing her semi-final to China’s Zheng Shuyin that she did not even want to bother competing for bronze. With this memory still raw, her every hour in training is now telegraphed towards Tokyo 2020. While an expanded schedule of five grands prix next season offers her a chance to create fresh history in 2018, it is the Olympics that will define her.
The pity is that Paul Green, her long-time coach, will not be in her corner. Green, an Olympian at Athens 2004, left GB Taekwondo in curious circumstances last month and is yet to give any reason publicly. “It was a personal decision for him,” says Walkden, reluctant to elaborate but clearly hurt by the parting of the ways.
“Paul, to me, was the best coach ever. I wish I could have continued the journey with him. I hope he can watch me get gold in Tokyo.”
In a sport that places such a premium on explosiveness and agility, it is striking that Walkden has had two knee reconstructions. Even with the complications of returning to full fitness, she claims she would not have had it any other way. As she puts it: “I’m not sure I would be where I am today if I hadn’t gone through that.”
Her annus mirabilis has culminated, to her astonishment, in a first SPOTY nomination for taekwondo. She hopes it is her springboard to mainstream stardom. “I want to be able to turn up anywhere and for everybody to know what taekwondo is. That’s the dream.”