30 August 2024
Truesdale and Bush star at the Grand Palais
Amy Truesdale and Matt Bush made history under the Grand Palais roof by becoming ParalympicsGB’s first taekwondo champions.
Truesdale and Bush claimed dominant victories in the women’s +65kg and men’s +80kg categories to make history.
Tokyo bronze medallist Truesdale, 35, could not have been more assured in reaching the showpiece with 30-9 and 26-13 wins in the quarter and semi-finals.
The Cheshire native had far too much for Guljonoy Naimova in the final but there was late drama after one of her kicks unwittingly caught the Uzbek in the throat.
Naimova needed to be stretchered off the mat and Truesdale would have been disqualified had the move been deemed intentional, but judges ruled in her favour after a nervy wait.
Since winning bronze in Tokyo, Truesdale has been on a mission and is now the first fighter ever to hold Paralympic, world and European titles concurrently.
“It’s the last medal I needed to complete my career,” she said. “I’m the Paralympic champion and I’ve made history. I am so grateful for the support.
“I had three hard fights today. People who know me know that after Tokyo, the hardest fight is the one that I have every day in my mind and I smashed that so I’m grateful that was the fight that I won.”
Matt Bush beat neutral athlete Aliaskhab Ramazanov 5-0 in the final.
Bush has been through his own battles and was ruled out of Rio and Tokyo due to injury, missing out on the eve of the Games three years ago having been selected.
The Welshman cut a swathe through the heavyweight field with 16-4 and 26-13 wins securing at least silver.
With his daughter watching on, the 35-year-old put in a tactical masterclass in the final to beat neutral athlete Aliaskhab Ramazanov 5-0.
“I thought taekwondo was going to be a bit of a side quest, that I would do my normal life and nip in and get a gold but it didn’t work out that way,” said Bush.
“It’s a lot of work, a lot of effort, a lot of injuries, a lot of time, but we just persevered. I learned a lot from the injuries and the setback and I grew a lot as a person.”