Single Parent, Not A Great Area... Thanks Mum For Belief That Got Me Close To Gold

Taekwondo ace Bradly’s praise after silver win

- Jeremy Armstrong & Andy Stenning

TAEKWONDO world No1 Bradly Sinden wiped away a tear and thanked his mum – while kicking himself for narrowly missing out on Olympic history yesterday.

Bradly suffered defeat in the dying seconds of his Olympic 68kg final against Uzbekistan’s Ulugbek Rashitov.

It was an agonising end to the 2019 World Champion’s bid to become our first male Olympic champ in the sport.

After securing silver – one of Team GB’s first two medals along with Chelsie Giles’s judo bronze – Bradly paid tribute to mum Sheryl for taking him to events as a child.

She would pay £200 to £1,000 per trip and gave unwavering support whatever the result.

And his other relatives helped by looking after his siblings while they were away.

He said: “To mum, I say thank you for taking me up and down the country, putting the money in. It’s hard, when it’s a single-parent background, and not in the best area. Not all parents would do that for their child.

“That’s the belief she had in me. I remember saying, ‘Oh mum, can I just miss training this one time?’, and she’s like ‘no’. I look back now and thank her for it’.”

Bradly, 22, admitted he felt a mixture of pride at his Olympic run and disappointment after reckoning he had let victory slip through his fingers.

He said: “I’ll reflect on it and be proud of what I’ve achieved.

“The gold medal was mine and I did make a mistake. He picked up on it.”

Sheryl, who also took her son to training twice a week when he was a youngster, said she was really, really proud” of his efforts but also devastated for him.

“I know how much he wanted gold,” she said.