Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (1988-12-22) 22 December 1988 (age 36) Pembrokeshire, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Para Taekwondo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disability class | F44 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight class | +80kg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Matt Bush (born 22 December 1988) is a Welsh para taekwondo practitioner who competes in the F44 classification in the +80 kg category. Bush, who does not have a left hand and forearm, is a two-time champion at the World Para Taekwondo Championships.
Career
Prior to his para taekwondo career, Bush was a javelin thrower. He had been set to make his Paralympic debut at the 2016 Summer Paralympics but he withdrew due to a shoulder injury. Shortly afterward, he switched to para taekwondo.
At the 2019 World Championships, Bush won the gold medal to become Britain's first world champion in para taewkwondo. He was named to the national para taekwondo squad at the rescheduled 2020 Summer Paralympics in 2021 in para taekwondo. However he was forced to withdraw after he had injured his ACL and was replace by his teammate Joe Lane. At the 2023 European Para Championships, Bush won the silver medal after losing to Ivan Mikulić in the gold medal match. At the World Championships in September 2023, he won his second gold medal.
Bush competed in the 2024 European Taekwondo Championships, where he won the gold medal in his category. The following month, he was announced as one of three members and the only male of the British para taekwondo team for the 2024 Summer Paralympics. Bush defeated Neutral Paralympic athlete Aliaskhab Ramazanov in the men's K44 +80 kg final to claim gold at the 2024 Paralympics Games in Paris, France. He was chosen as one of Great Britain's flagbearers for the closing ceremony alongside swimmer Poppy Maskill.
References
- "Bush aiming for Paralympic joy at third time of asking". BBC. 18 June 2024.
- "Matt Bush". ParalympicsGB. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- "Antalya 2019: Day of upsets at taekwondo Worlds". IPC. 6 February 2019.
- "Antalya 2019: History made on final day". IPC. 7 February 2019.
- "ParalympicsGB taekwondo squad named for Tokyo 2020". ParalympicsGB. 26 May 2021.
- "Tokyo Paralympics: World Para-taekwondo champion Matt Bush withdraws injured". BBC. 22 August 2021.
- "Para Taekwondo World champion Matt Bush withdraws from Tokyo 2020 Paralympics". 22 August 2021.
- Berkeley, Geoff (16 August 2023). "Abuzarli snatches taekwondo gold in thrilling finish at European Para Championships".
- "GBR's Bush returns to top form with second Worlds title; Truesdale emerges winner again". World Taekwondo. 24 September 2023.
- "Results – Parataekwondo" (PDF). European Judo Union. 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2024.
- "ParalympicsGB announces Para taekwondo squad for Paris 2024". ParalympicsGB. 18 June 2024.
- "Paris 2024 Paralympics: Amy Truesdale and Matt Bush win back-to-back taekwondo golds". BBC Sport. 31 August 2024. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- "Maskill and Bush to be GB's flagbearers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
External links
- Matt Bush at TaekwondoData.com
- Matt Bush at ParalympicsGB
- 1988 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Carmarthenshire
- Welsh male taekwondo practitioners
- Paralympic taekwondo practitioners for Great Britain
- Taekwondo practitioners at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
- Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain
- Paralympic medalists in taekwondo
- 21st-century Welsh sportsmen