Caden Cunningham has always been a man in a hurry but when it comes to his Olympic dream, the taekwondo heavyweight knows that slowing everything down will be key.
Still only 20, Cunningham already has a European Games gold and Grand Prix victory under his belt and is now gunning for a similar colour medal in Paris this summer. If he succeeds in that ambition, Cunningham will become the youngest-ever Olympic taekwondo champion in the men’s heavyweight division.
And while precedent would suggest he has a better chance of conquering the world in four years’ time in Los Angeles, for Cunningham, the focus has only ever been on Paris.
Asked when he thought that Paris was a realistic possibility, the Huddersfield native explained: “When I was 12 and did the maths, a long time ago. I blew up my ACL at 2022 Worlds and after that, everyone thought, head towards LA. But for me, the first thought was, this makes it a bit harder to get to Paris, it was never a case of ‘I can’t go’.
“It was a crunch anyway because we lost a year to Covid, a year of ranking points. That crunched it a bit and then I did the knee but I thought it was just something to add to the story, a story to tell my kids. It started when I was young and it never faded, Paris has been what was always happening for myself, in my eyes at least.”
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While he might be one of the youngest players in his division, Cunningham has already learned some crucial lessons on the way to establishing himself as the outstanding heavyweight in Britain. Chief among them is that even when you are preparing to face someone who, as Cunningham succinctly puts it, ‘is coming to kick you in the face’, you have to be able to relax.
It is why, rather than pumping himself up for a fight, Cunningham tries to wind down, listening to the likes of Alicia Keys or Whitney Houston to ensure he is in the right headspace.
He said: “I like listening to music, relaxed music, stuff that I used to listen to with my mum. A lot of fighters listen to upbeat music to try and get them psyched up but for me, the more asleep I am walking into the ring, the better performance I get. I can see the game very clearly, I can tell my body what to do in good time and I’m not rushing to things.
(Getty Images)“I’m always ready to be kicked and always ready to kick. For me, it’s about keeping the resilient mindset to relax myself a bit and not get carried away. I was a very edgy fighter when I was younger, all I wanted to do was kick, kick, kick. But taekwondo is a game, a point-scoring game so for me it’s about being relaxed and how I can play the game with my own flavour of fight there.
“In 2022 at the Europeans, it was my first year as a fully-fledged senior. I lost a fight on golden point in the quarter-final. It was a very boring match, neither of us scored any points, I wasn’t hurt, I wasn’t beaten up but I lost, the day was done for me. That is when I realised that this isn’t just about fighting.
"I thought, if that’s how it is, that is how it is. Let’s get to the gym and learn how to fix it. I did and since then, I’ve slowly increased my medal tally, my ability in the ring and I’ve become the force to be reckoned with that I am now.”
Cunningham will be just 21 by the time Paris comes around but already has everything to become the face of his sport. Housemate Bradly Sinden is one of his main inspirations – another Yorkshireman building the sport’s legacy in the UK with a pair of world titles and an Olympic silver medal in his collection.
Sinden is always on hand to give Cunningham advice after a win or a loss, but the youngster has also started to make a name for himself, both through his performances in the ring but also thanks to a keen interest in the world of fashion.
“I’m getting into the fashion space a bit,” said Cunningham. “My agency is sport and fashion. It’s been amazing, I’ve been in a couple of magazines, I’ve done a shoot here and there. Going to fashion week last year was really cool.
“That’s a good, little side hobby to get out of the taekwondo space because we are up here and see the same people all the time, which is lovely, I love all the faces. But it’s good to look at different types of clothes as opposed to sporting clothes. I get down there, meet new people, network. I do like the fashion side of life.”
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Caden CUNNINGHAM (GBR) vs Zhaoxiang SONG (CHN) during Semi Finals round Men +80kg of World Taekwondo Grand Prix at Foro Italico, Nicola Pietrangeli Stadium, 9th June 2023, Rome, Italy. (Photo by Domenico Cippitelli/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (Getty Images)As Cunningham progresses, his presence within the fashion world may become an even bigger part of his life.
For now though, he admits his Olympic dream is only possible because of the support he has received from The National Lottery a part of the World Class Programme, allowing him to train full-time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support.
And he added: “Without The National Lottery, none of us would be where we are. Brad and Bianca (Cook) are inspirations and they wouldn’t have been able to elevate taekwondo to where it is and I wouldn’t be able to have gone to the competitions I went to, especially when I was younger.
“My parents didn’t have all the money in the world to send me all over the world. So the National Lottery has been very important.”
National Lottery players raise more than £30million a week for good causes including vital funding into sport – from grassroots to elite. To find out more visit: #TNLAthletes
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