Aaron Cook (taekwondo)

Aaron Cook

Personal information
Full name	Aaron Arthur Cook
Born	(1991-01-02) 2 January 1991 (age 33) Dorchester, Dorset, Great Britain
Spouse	Bianca Walkden ​ (m. 2022)​
Sport
Sport	Taekwondo
Event	-80 kg
Coached by	Seelan Rengasamy Joseph Salim Luke Cook Patrice Remarck
Medal record Men's taekwondo Representing  Moldova World Championships 2015 Chelyabinsk Welterweight (−80 kg) 2017 Muju Welterweight (−80 kg) European Championships 2018 Kazan −80 kg 2016 Montreux −80 kg Grand Prix 2015 Moscow −80 kg 2015 Mexico City −80 kg 2017 Moscow −80 kg 2017 London −80 kg Representing  Isle of Man European Championships 2014 Baku −80 kg Grand Prix 2014 Suzhou −80 kg 2014 Manchester −80 kg 2013 Manchester −80 kg Representing  Great Britain European Championships 2010 Saint Petersburg −80 kg 2012 Manchester −80 kg World Junior Championships 2008 İzmir −78 kg 2006 Ho Chi Minh City −68 kg European Junior Championships 2007 Baku −73 kg

Aaron Arthur Cook (born 2 January 1991) is a taekwondo athlete who has represented Great Britain (the nation of his birth), the Isle of Man, and Moldova.^[1] He has been ranked the number one in the men's −80 kg division on several occasions. He is three-times a European champion having won the −80 kg title at the European Taekwondo Championships in 2010, 2012 representing Great Britain and 2014 representing the Isle of Man, and was the world junior champion in the −78 kg division in 2008.

He represented Great Britain in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where he reached the semi-final and was narrowly defeated in the bronze medal match.^[2] He was controversially left out of the British team for the 2012 Olympic Games in London despite being the world no. 1-ranked competitor in the −80 kg division when the British Taekwondo Control Board selected Lutalo Muhammad (who was ranked world no. 59 in −80 kg and world no. 7 in −87 kg). Following this, Cook indicated he could no longer work with the governing authorities in Great Britain, and switched allegiance to the Isle of Man. This move to a non-Olympic nation ostensibly allowed Cook to achieve qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics for Great Britain, the country for which Isle of Man athletes participate at the Olympics.

He represented the Isle of Man in international tournaments from February 2013 until 2015 when following further discussions with the Great Britain authorities, Cook sought and obtained Moldovan citizenship and announced that he would compete for Moldova. At the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships, Cook represented his new country for the first time, losing to former Great Britain teammate Damon Sansum in the semi-final. Despite this, Cook won the bronze medal in his weight category, his first medal in a World Championship. Cook later won silver at the 2018 European Taekwondo Championships in Kazan in the 80 kg weight category.