Josie aiming to kick-start a charge to the Olympics

The future is bright for taekwondo talent Josie Parrott who picked up a medal in the Bradford Northern Youth & under-21 games.
Josie Parrott with her coach Joe BrownJosie Parrott with her coach Joe Brown
Josie Parrott with her coach Joe Brown

It was a great competition for the 12-year-old, from Hayling Island, who has her sights set on competing at the Olympics in future.

She made the decision to switch from karate to taekwondo and is already enjoying lots of success in the sport based around an emphasis on kicking techniques, as well as patterns, sparring and fitness work.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In Bradford she earned a bronze medal having already secured two golds and one silver medal at previous competitions.

The Hayling College pupil is also looking to gain her black belt in June.

Her dad Marc is very proud of what she has achieved already and felt she relished the atmosphere of the big competition. Her focus is very much on reaching the pinnacle of the sport and showing she can perform so well in a big arena is a good sign.

He said: ‘As the stadium filled up she became more and more excited. The competition had 202 people taking part. She had a small group from her club along with her so trained while waiting for her matches. They started the day with a group warm up which helped get them settled.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘She has aspirations to join the Great Britain Olympic team and compete in the Olympics.

‘Her club (British Taekwondo Schools) have been successful in getting a number of competitors into the GB development squad. She has also been asked to begin competing internationally with BTS this year.

‘She started martial arts with karate and enjoyed the sparring side most and after watching the 2016 Olympics she was hooked on a dream of competing in the Olympics herself. She discovered that Karate wasn’t an Olympic sport so she switched to taekwondo. She loves it because of the great challenge and the exhilaration during competition. She also finds peace and fulfilment during training.’

Josie started doing taekwondo two-and-a-half years ago and she moved to BTS, based in Southampton, in August of last year.

This is the only Great Britain talent club in the south of England.

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.