Taekwondo365: At the recent British International Open you seemed very disappointed with the result against Korea (Kim Jae Hak), what was going through your mind?

Aaron: To have lost the fight after leading with only one second to go, and to get caught with a head-shot was a mistake on my part
and it was doubly disappointing as I wanted to win Gold in front of my home crowd; it’s definitely something I’ll be looking to put
right next year!

Taekwondo365: There was a lot of discussion around the new Lajust electronic scoring system used at the event, how did you
find it?

Aaron: I was quite happy with it, and it seemed to suit my style. I think some fighters will need to adjust their style as
it will be important to try and score ore with the front leg, and as we saw during the tournament there will be a lot
more head shots now that they score three points.

Taekwondo365: There were some quality athletes on display at the event; did any athlete catch
your eye?

Aaron: It may sound biased as we’re good friends, but Michael Harvey fought really well to win his
gold medal, in fact, that was he best I’ve ever seen him fight!

Taekwondo365: When will we next see you fighting on home soil?

Aaron: I’ll be competing at the British National Championships in Manchester (January 30th and 31st 2010)

Taekwondo365: It’s only a few days now until the WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen
(14th – 18th October 2009), how are your preparations going?

Aaron: Very well indeed, I’m feeling fit and positive and I can’t wait to get there!

Taekwondo365: If someone could guarantee you a gold medal at the World Championships or Silver at the Olympics, which would you choose?

Aaron: Neither. I’m going for gold at the 2012 Olympics!

Taekwondo365: So assuming the Olympics go to plan and someone wants to bring out the game “Aaron Cook’s Olympic Taekwondo” would
you prefer it to be on the Playstation or the Xbox?

Aaron: I definitely prefer the Playstation, but I’m open to offers!

Taekwondo365: So other that the Playstation and Taekwondo, is there anything else you are good at?

Aaron: I like to draw, but I don’t really have time for other activities.

Taekwondo365: So is there anything you’re particularly bad at?

Aaron: My singing is terrible!

Taekwondo365: Ok, so if you could be world-class at any other sport, what would it be?

Aaron: Well I love watching the sprinter Usain Bolt, he’s on a different level and really taking his sport forward, so to be able to run like him and be better and faster than anyone else on the planet would be great.

Taekwondo365: Getting to the top of your sport and staying there are not easy, so how long do you spend training each week?

Aaron: I train for about 20 hours each week.

Taekwondo365: It’s not all work and no play, so what’s been your funniest taekwondo moment?

A. Well you had to be there, but I was once fighting in my first WTF competition as a 9 year old, somewhere in Cumbria and in the middle of a round I felt thirsty, so I just took a timeout and before the referee could do anything I’d walked over to my coach and had a drink; I don’t know what I was thinking!

Taekwondo365: Obviously some athletes are better than others, so which do you think is the most important, training or talent?

A. With the right training anyone can be a reasonable taekwondo player, so I would say that it’s about 60% training and 40% talent.

Taekwondo365: At what point did you realise you had a talent for taekwondo?

A. I’ve never really thought that, but when I was about 9 years old I made the decision to change from the ITF to the WTF so that I could compete in the Olympics, so there must have been something telling me I was better that average!

Taekwondo365: So who’s had the biggest impact on your career to date?

A. My parents have supported me 100% in everything I’ve done, and I’ve been lucky enough to train with Master Vasillios Koykoyletos and Master Peter Adamsons, and I was mentored by Sir Steve Redgrave and Tanni Grey-Thompson running into the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Taekwondo365: There’ll be a lot of up and coming taekwondo players reading this, so is there any advice you can give them?

A. Pick a dream, set your goal's and stick at it!

Aaron Cook will be representing Great Britian at the WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen from 14th – 18th of October 2009.