Former British taekwondo star Aaron Cook, who competed for the Isle of Man for over two years post London Games, has now shifted allegiance to Moldova.

AFP/Baku

Peace and harmony will be in short supply today at the European Games if as expected, British taekwondo star Lutalo Mohamed faces Moldova’s adopted son Aaron Cook—the man whose place he controversially took at the London Olympics.
Mohamed indeed has wasted little time in hyping up the 80 kilogrammes semi-final they are seeded to meet in barring shocks, comparing it somewhat fancifully as taekwondo’s equivalent of the legendary boxing bouts of the past.
“This is one of taekwondo’s (Sugar) Ray Leonard (Marvin) Hagler, (Joe) Louis (Max) Schmeling, (Jack) Johnson (John) Jeffries, Mohamed Ali ‘Smokin Joe Frazier moments,” said Mohamed, who despite the brouahaha over his selection paid little heed to it and took bronze in London.
“This is a huge fight and I really do hope it happens, I feel prepared, I feel ready. Given the circumstances I’ve done the best I can to be in the best shape I possibly can be and I want to put on the best show I can on Thursday. It will be a huge fight,” added the 24-year-old.
Cook—who competed for the Isle of Man for over two years post London before he was persuaded by Moldova’s billionaire taekwondo federation president Igor Iuzefovici to swear allegiance to them—would settle for comparisons with such great fighters.
For the 24-year-old born in the tranquil Dorset town of Dorchester has known anything but calm seas on his way to Baku even being labelled a ‘traitor’ in the British tabloids.
The three-time European champion would argue otherwise saying his omission from the London Olympics team when he was world number one and European champion left him little reason to remain loyal.
However, he has done himself few favours with the British public with his recent comments over how he feels on hearing ‘God Save the Queen’ ring out as he did when his British taekwondoka girlfriend Bianca Walkden won the world title recently.
“The national anthem doesn’t really mean that much to me any more. I am fighting for myself when I am there,” said Cook, who took bronze at the same championships in Russia in May for his first medal for his adopted country.
“I have found it very easy. It’s exactly the same mat, the same arena. It is just that I have different letters on the back of my suit. Moldova have given me all the support I need, so I am extremely grateful for everything they have done,” added Cook, who cried during Walkden’s medal ceremony in Russia though he says it was for her not for the anthem.
Cook, whose brother Luke has remained with him and helped him out in his preparations, dismisses Lutalo’s claims about their meeting being on a different plane to other potential bouts.
“Of course it would be nice to fight him (Mohamed), but I will fight anybody,” said Cook who is top seed in Baku and needs to accrue points here to help him on his journey to qualify for the Rio Olympics next year.
“Everyone is the same to me now. It’s just another country. They (Great Britain) are just like any other team—like Spain or Turkey—just another competitor standing in my way.”
Cook, who did represent Great Britain in the 2008 Olympics as a callow teenager losing in the bronze medal match, is adamant that now his long-term future has been sorted out everything that happened is water under the bridge.
“I had to move on. Now it is about looking at the future, not worrying about the past,” said Cook. “Of course, I was absolutely devastated at the time, but now I am fighting for Moldova, I am extremely happy.”

TWO WRESTLERS DISQUALIFIED FOR FIGHTING
Two wrestlers were kicked out of the 57-kilogram freestyle competition at the European Games yesterday—for getting into a brawl at the wrong time.
Semi-finalists Uladzislau Andreyeu of Belarus and Georgia’s Vladimer Khinchegashvili became involved in a fight with each other which reportedly broke up only after punches and headbutts were thrown.
The pair were subsequently disqualified leaving Germany’s Marcel Ewald and Albanian Islam Islamaj—who they had beaten in the quarter-finals - to contest a semi-final.
Ewald triumphed in that contest but had to settle for silver later Wednesday having lost the final against Russia’s two-time world champion Viktor Lebedev.
“In sport it’s about using your chances,” Jannis Zamanduridis, sport director in the German wrestling federation, said. “Marcel has worked hard his whole life and now got a break which he has used.
“It was like boxing,” Zamanduridis said of the fight between Andreyeu and Khinchegashvili. “The disqualifications were completely right.”