Boy, 15, beats black belts to win Taekwondo gold
BBCA 15-year-old boy has won three gold medals at the British Taekwondo Championships, despite only taking up the activity a year ago.
Dylan Griffiths Johnson, from Kemerton in Worcestershire, has now set his sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics following the competition, which was held in Bromsgrove.
The championships comprised of individual and team events students from the UK and the US taking part.
"I really think I could make a solid career out of this, I’m really really excited to see what the future holds," he said.
"I was over the moon with the result, better than I could’ve ever imagined," he told BBC Hereford and Worcester.
Taekwondo is a martial art which involves skills such as kicking and punching.
Students' level of skill is ranked by coloured belt grades, called Kup, starting from 10th Kup, and advancing to 1st.
After this, they can gain a black belt, or Dan.
Trained by his dad, a former British champion, and his mum, who also had a background in martial arts, Dylan went into the competition as the underdog.
He had a blue belt, and was fighting people with second and third Dans, which meant they had taken the black belt test multiple times.
"It is about the underdog, it is about somebody that’s perhaps not always expected to do well and they absolutely excel, that to me is the ethos of martial arts," his dad, Tony, said.
Dylan said the sport helped with his dyspraxia.
"I couldn’t write my name until I was nine or 10 so I really struggled in school.
"This has given me a big confidence boost, and also really helped with that kind of stuff - my coordination is really good now.
"Every aspect of life has improved. It holds definitely a special place in my heart."
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