HAYDEN Corby of Bluewave Korean Martial Arts selection to join the prestigious GB Taekwondo Academy Fighting Chance 13 to 18 Development Programme.

This programme is for the young Taekwondo athletes seen as having the potential to be part of the Olympic squad for 2024 and 2028.

Athletes who are successful in the development programme are expected to move into full time training with the GB Academy at 16 or 18.

Corby started his martial arts journey in kickboxing under Steve O’Grady of Basingstoke Freestyle Kickboxing, adding Taekwondo only two years ago when he joined Bluewave Korean Martial Arts.

His strong martial arts skills developed with Basingstoke Freestyle Kickboxing helped him make a quick transition into the Olympic style of Taekwondo competition.

Corby’s progress with Bluewave in Taekwondo tournaments since then has been exceptional, with eight consecutive tournament victories.

It was this performance that brought him to the attention of the Great Britain coaching staff and an invitation to try out for the programme despite only having limited experience in Taekwondo.

Stage One of the selection took place in Manchester in August where Corby showed his competition potential.

He was then invited to the Stage Two selection also at the GB National Taekwondo Centre on the first weekend of September consisting of a demanding boot camp to further assess potential of selected athletes.

On the weekend of middle weekend of September, Corby competed at the British Taekwondo National Championship.

This was the largest National Championship ever with 927 competitors from across the country competing in the Olympic sparring discipline of Taekwondo.

The Bluewave fighter dominated in his division and won the final with an impressive 26-4 victory.

Following his success at the National Championships, he received confirmation of his selection for GB Development Programme and the start of his path as a Great Britain athlete hopefully to Olympics in Paris 2024 or LA 2028.

The next stage in the journey started last weekend with Corby’s first training weekend at the GB National Taekwondo Centre in Manchester.

Over the next two years he will then be spending alternate weekends with the academy as well as continuing his development with Bluewave.

For further information on Bluewave including class times please visit bluewave.org.uk or contact the club via email at info@bluewave.org.uk