BOA question decision to leave top star out of Olympics
Last Updated: May 29, 2012 7:08pm
The British Olympic Association have questioned the omission of Aaron Cook from British Taekwondo's team for London 2012, and asked for more information on their decision.
Cook has appealed against the decision, which has seen British Taekwondo pick world number 56 Lutalo Muhammad ahead of him despite the fact he will shortly be named as the world number one in his division.
The BOA have to ratify any selections made by the governing bodies for each sport, and although they have agreed with three of the four taekwondo choices, they have asked for an explanation surrounding Cook not getting the place in the -80kg division.
The BOA's Olympic Qualification Standards (OQS) Panel, including Andy Hunt and Clive Woodward, have met to discuss the selection and have now asked British Taekwondo for clarification on their selection policy.
"The OQS Panel formally accepted the athlete nominations submitted by British Taekwondo in the Women's Under-57 kg and Under-67 kg weight categories, and in the Men's Under-68 kg weight category," read a BOA statement.
Meeting
"With respect to the nomination in the Men's Under-80 kg weight category, the OQS Panel is requesting a meeting at the earliest possible opportunity with the British Taekwondo Selection Committee to seek further information and clarification about:
"the process by which the athletes were evaluated by the British Taekwondo Selection Committee
"the head-kick scoring regulations in international taekwondo and their bearing on selection; the OQS Panel will also be seeking information from the World Taekwondo Federation on this point
"Once the OQS Panel has had an opportunity to ask further questions of and receive additional information from the British Taekwondo Selection Committee, it will be in a position to act upon the nomination."
The selection move has caused a stir with Cook set to move to the top of the world rankings and with reports that British Taekwondo have made the decision purely because the 21-year-old opted out of their training programme and funded his training by himself.
Cook later responded via Twitter: "Encouraging news reports. Thank you to the BOA, I await further news. The dream is still alive..."
GB Taekwondo statement
A subsequent GB Taekwondo statement read: "We have now received the formal response from the British Olympic Association (BOA) following their Olympic Qualification Standards panel meeting today.
"We are delighted that the nominations for three of our four athletes have been ratified and that these athletes will form part of the Great Britain team for the upcoming Olympic Games.
"We will continue to work with the BOA to finalise the fourth selection place, in the interests of the athletes concerned and the wider team.
"Competition for places has never been as strong as it is now within our sport and the challenges around selection reflect this.
"Our performances on the international stage have naturally alerted key overseas competitors and it has always been our policy not to distribute sensitive documentation beyond those for whom it is intended.
"This is no different with our selection policy and this document has long been available to every athlete that has registered an interest in being considered for Olympic selection. It has also been reviewed by both UK Sport and the BOA.
"We maintain that the overriding aim of the selection panel has been to select athletes who provide the Great Britain Taekwondo team the optimal chance of winning the best set of medals at the Games this summer."
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