Tokyo Olympic taekwondo champion Maxim Khramtsov explained why he did not participate in the Paris Grand Prix stage.
In September, Khramtsov missed the Paris Grand Prix stage, despite World Taekwondo’s decision to allow him to compete.
— During the autumn Grand Prix, where you were admitted under the neutral flag, you did not perform. How can this be explained?
“I wouldn’t like to make excuses, but I was preparing for the World Championships last May, and a week before they told us I wasn’t allowed. Then I was preparing for the Paris Grand Prix, and also the day before the fights I was still not allowed. And when I moved to the third stage, I no longer had such motivation, I thought, you never know, they won’t let me in anymore or something else will happen. But that’s okay, we train, we prepare and we will come back stronger.
— At the end of your athletic career, will you become a coach?
– It’s not a fact, we’ll see. Right now I want to develop taekwondo in our country, I want to popularize it not as a coach, but as a person who wants taekwondo to be known not only to people involved in this sport. So that at such meetings they could ask me a question with interest, knowing our sport, and so that it would also be interesting for me to have a conversation,” Khramtsov told the correspondent.
Khramtsov is the first Olympic taekwondo champion, world champion, two-time European champion and five-time Grand Prix champion in the history of Russian sports.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
