Matt celebrate his gold medal victory hold aloft union jack flag

Matt Bush

Taekwondo

Region

St Clears, Carmarthenshire (Wales)
Date of Birth

22/12/1988
Classification

K44

Matt Bush won gold at Paris 2024 to become the first man to win a taekwondo medal for ParalympicsGB . The 6ft 6 inches tall Welshman showed nerves of steel to totally dominate his final in the +80kg, beating neutral athlete Aliaskhab Ramazanov 5-0.

Matt was also chosen to be one of ParalympicsGB’s flagbearers at the closing ceremony.

Born and raised in South-West Wales, Bush became Britain’s first ever male Para taekwondo athlete to win World Championship gold in 2019.

The former shot putter seized the opportunity to switch to the sport in 2017 after realising it had joined the Paralympic roster - and he hasn’t looked back since.

Despite securing a qualification place for Tokyo 2020, Bush was unable to compete after he was forced to withdraw with an ACL injury and was replaced by teammate Joe Lane.

Since recovering from the injury Matt won Gold at the 2023 World Championships, a Gold at the Grand Prix in China in 2023, and a Bronze at the European Championships 2024 in Serbia.

During the pandemic, the heavyweight fighter also served as a key worker and helped to supply food to local shops in his hometown of St Clears, Carmarthenshire.

Major Results

Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

Men’s K44 +80kg

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