Aaron Cook (taekwondo)

This article is about the British taekwondo athlete. For other uses, see Aaron Cook (disambiguation).

Aaron Cook

Medal record
Representing Great Britain
Men’s taekwondo
European Championships
	2010 Saint Petersburg	-80 kg
	2012 Manchester	-80 kg
World Junior Championships
	2008 Izmir	-78 kg
	2006 Ho Chi Minh City	-68 kg
European Junior Championships
	2007 Baku	-73 kg

Aaron Arthur Cook (born 2 January 1991 in Dorchester, Dorset, England) is a British taekwondo athlete who qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and is the current -87Kg European Champion.

Education

Aaron attended Manor Park First School, St. Osmund's Middle School and the Thomas Hardye School, all in Dorchester. However, Cook never completed his GCSE examinations, as he was busy devoting his full efforts and concentration on achieving Olympic success. He has however said that he intends to return to full time education once his fighting career has ended.

Breakthrough to Seniors

Aaron made his breakthrough into Seniors at the 2007 Dutch Open Championships held in Eindhoven, aged just 16. Cook took bronze in his debut seniors competition, losing out to French athlete Torann Mazeroi 12-10 in the quarters.

However just one week later Cook turned up at the German Open Championships in Bonn to take his maiden senior open title. In the final he defeated fellow team member Davoud Etminani in a really close battle with a finishing score of 12-11. He then went to compete and secured his place on the British team for the 2007 World Taekwondo Championships at a closed door round robin competition held at Loughborough University. at the 2007 World Taekwondo Championship and on his debut he was drawn against Iceland in the first bout, He won on superiority over his opponent. In the second round he faced the toughest opponent of his very young career, Hadi Saei of Iran who placed first at both the 2005 World Taekwondo Championships held in Madrid and the 2004 Olympics held in Athens. Aaron gave a good count of himself but could not pass the massively experienced Iranian with a final score of 11-6. Hadi Saei progressed through the tournament to the semi final where he lost on a technicallity to Afghanistan's Nesar Ahmad Bahavee.

Later in his debut year, Cook tried to qualify a spot for British team for the 2008 Olympic Games. By competing at the 2007 World Qualification Tournament held at the MEN Arena Manchester. In the first round he was faced against Ireland's Sean Joyce, Cook had a comfortable victory never really being pressured by the Irishman finishing the bout within the scheduled time 9-2. The same result occurred against Switzerland's Markus Jiskra a 9-2 scoreline ending the bout in favour of Cook. In the or the last 16 Cook faced a stiffer task against Philippines' Briones a stronger opponent physically pushed Cook harder than his previous opponents however Cook still secured a comfortable victory with a final score of 5-2. However in the Quarter Finals Cook's dream of qualification in front of a home crowd shattered as he faced Italian Mauro Sarmiento, with scores tied 3-3 going into the final round, Cook looked to draw his tall opponent in but received a kick to the temple knocking him to the mat. This opened up a lead for Mauro Sarmiento which Cook just could close with all his efforts as he simple pushed out of the distance with the long reach and advantage the Italian held. The bout finished 5-3 along with Cook's dreams of qualification in Manchester. Cook would have one more chance of qualification in European Qualification Tournament to be held in Istanbul, Turkey in January 2008

2008 Summer Olympics

See also: Taekwondo at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 80 kg § Tournament results

In his Olympic debut he got off to a good start defeating Anju Jason representing the Marshall Islands, The Marshallese athlete is the first person in history to qualify for any Olympic Sport from the small islands. The match finished 7-0 in favour of Aaron Cook. The second match was against a higher class of competitor, he was due to fight Carlos Vasquez of Venezuela. Vasquez who is a former World Bronze Medalist from the 2005 World Taekwondo Championships where he also took the favourite and now reigning 4 time World Champion and Two Time Olympic Champion, Steven López of the USA to a decisive 4th round. however this match went in favour of Cook again ending the match at the end of the scheduled 3 rounds with a final score line of 5-2.

In the semi-finals however Aaron Cook suffered a tall task as he was due to fight 6 ft 5in Italian Mauro Sarmiento. The two fought before at the 2007 World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament in the MEN Arena Manchester last September. They fought at the quarter final stage in that tournament where victory was landed with Mauro Sarmiento after a head shot knocked Cook to the mat, the final score was 5-3. However at the end of the 3 rounds with just 5 secs to go, the scores were locked at 5-5. Cook who had never taken a match to sudden death, launched his final assault, throwing two body blows to the trunk protector of Mauro Sarmiento which he believed had scored. However a kick by Sarmiento which Cook believed had hit his arm was scored and no points were awarded for his own attack, leaving a final score 6-5 in favour of Mauro Sarmiento.

After a defeat in the semi finals this had placed Cook in the Bronze Medal Match of the Repecharge against the home crowds hope Zhu Guo of China. Cook looked to have put behind him the lows of his defeat from the semi final match with an alleged head shot which once again was unawarded by the referees. Cook looked to Mexican referee Rosa Adam who was standing just 1 metre away to stop the contest for a judge discussion but to no avail. After a series body blows to the chest of Zhu Guo and another alleged head shot going unawarded and couple of minor deductions Cook found himself 2-(-1) behind at the end of two rounds. Aaron finally got on the score card with a 360 turning kick and another shot to the chest, closing the gap 3-1. However, counter attacking Zhu Guo extended his lead as Cook tried to sell another point unawarded by the four corner judges. The contest closed with much displeasure to Cook. Cook was later baffled that a protest was not lodged against the result by his supporting team.

Aaron speaking after his defeat against China:

"I am so gutted. I came so close. I thought the scoring was absolutely horrendous. I don't know what the judges were looking at, they must have been looking in the crowd. 'I never tried so much in a match, and it still wasn't enough, and then I didn't know what I had to do. I am miles better than that guy. The crowd didn't affect me, but it must have affected the scoring. 'I can't believe the scoring. Words can't explain how absolutely gutted I am to come so close to a medal. I had the right tactics. I'd have been five to six points ahead in any other taekwondo fight."

World Taekwondo Tour 2009 Mexico

In the men’s -80 kg final match, Cook came from behind to defeat the United States’ Steven López with a KO victory. In the second round of the final match, he sent Lopez, the five-time world champion and two-time Olympic medalist, to the floor with a headshot. After winning £17,880 Cook said "To beat the world champion makes it the greatest win in my career so far. It is amazing to take gold."

2012 Summer Olympics

Prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Cook was involved in controversy relating to selection for the games. Although ranked number one in the world, Cook was overlooked for world ranked 59th, Lutalo Muhammad. With Cook considering legal action after being overlooked his agent said "If the British world number one and reigning European Champion does not compete, it will be a national disgrace". "This is an embarrassment not only for the sport of taekwondo internationally, but also for Great Britain's international reputation in hosting the London 2012 Games." Team GB performance director Gary Hall commented on the controversy by saying that "In some ways, Aaron has a bigger marketing machine than the whole of GB Taekwondo." Women's world champion Sarah Stevenson also defended the selection, saying that "To be world number one on a rankings system is not what taekwondo is, it doesn't mean you're the best in the world. I don't even care or know what ranking I am, and people need to realise this. It's really unfair that GB Taekwondo are getting criticised for not picking a world number one."