Paris 2024 Flash Quotes: Taekwondo

Comments from ParalympicsGB taekwondo athlete Beth Munro after today’s session.

Beth Munro

Result: Lost 20-16 to Yao Yinan of China in her quarter-final and then 10-2 to Denmark’s Lisa Kjaer Gjessing in the repechage

Age: 31

Hometown: Liverpool

“Lisa and I call each other our nemeses but in a good way. She is an absolute legend in the sport. She is a really nice person which sometimes in a Taekwondo court you really don’t want to say. I went out with a game plan again and I probably wasn’t quick enough to change it. I just wasn’t quick enough to change my game plan, I kept going for that side and when it isn’t working you shouldn’t continue it and I just continued it and couldn’t get the points. She did well to close off the gaps and score coming in.

“I’m devastated, truly not to be walking away with a medal but that’s sport, that’s taekwondo. It’s not just us against the clock, its us with opponents kicking us and there are so many external factors to play and it just didn’t go my way today and that’s on me.

“I’ll go away later and have a little cry, it is what it is, it comes in waves.”

On speaking to Kjaer after the match:

“She apologised, which she should never do. You should never apologise. We’ve got that rapport over the years and we’ve got to know each other over the years and she’s such a lovely person. Sometimes I don’t like to say that going into a competitive fight, but there is an element of respect and when I first started I went out giving her too much respect, but when it comes to the point of where I beat her, she’s human and she can lose. It might be our final dance, I don’t know, she’s a legend of the sport and I’m gutted but it is what it is.”

On being number one seed:

“I tried to keep that at arm’s length to be honest. Everyone was saying ‘you only had six months and you got a silver, surely the gold is just within arm’s reach’. No I need to keep that as far away as possible because that’s not the case. We can look at the Olympic side and see similar things, it just doesn’t go your way on the day.

“Regardless, someone could do what I did in Tokyo, do a Beth Munro and come in unranked and smash it out of the ballpark. I don’t like to put predictions on and no one else does, you go out on the day and hope it goes you way, but it just didn’t go my way today.”