The BOA's Olympic Qualification Standards (OQS) Panel comprising chief executive and Chef de Mission Andy Hunt, his deputies Mark England and Sir Clive Woodward, and Sarah Winckless, chairman of the BOA Athletes Commission, met yesterday with officials from GB Taekwondo and told them they would not ratify the decision to ignore Cook and instead choose Lutalo Muhammad.

The decision has been questioned by the BOA because Cook, a 21-year-old from Dorchester, today officially takes over the new world number one in the under-80 kilograms category having regained his European title in Manchester last month. 

The reasons for the decision to overlook Cook in favour of Muhammad, who will have to step down a weight category to fight, is unclear but is believed to be linked to perceived changes to the rules surrounding headshots.


This is believed to favour Muhammad (pictured above in red vest), a 20-year-old from East London who himself won the under-87 kilograms European title in Manchester, rather than Cook.

"Our nominations have been based on what we judge to be best for the British Olympic team in terms of medal potential, as well as for the sport as a whole," said GB Taekwondo in a statement.

"Whilst we recognise that this may lead to unpopular or contentious decisions, we also have to accept that this is the nature of sport and also a reflection of just how far the British team has come in recent years.

"The selection panel acted in accordance with the recent decision of Sport Resolutions in terms of the composition of the panel, in evaluating the athletes being considered for nomination and in giving the athletes fair representation.

"The panel's knowledge and technical expertise has been key to this process and we maintain that their role is to ensure that we nominate the best set of athletes who in turn represent the best opportunity for Great Britain to achieve medal success at London 2012."

Cook fought as a 17-year-old in Beijing, only missing out on a bronze medal in a controversial play-off against China's Zhu Guo (pictured below in red vest). 


But he left GB Taekwondo's high-performance programme last year to train independently for London 2012, which many suspect is at the root of his omission from the team. 

GB Taekwondo deny this.

"Selection for any major event is often difficult but for a home Olympic Games, the challenge of choosing the best team is intensified," they said in their statement.

"Like many sports, we have had to face that challenge during what is a unique time for Olympic sports in this country.

"These nominations are not taken lightly, nor can they afford to be.

"The Great Britain taekwondo team has taken great strides since Beijing 2008 and is now recognised as a global force in the sport.

"We have genuine medal opportunities at the Games this summer and our performance will have a considerable bearing on the future development of our sport and our team."

GB Taekwondo also claimed that they have so far been unable to fully tell their side of the story, which would help explain their decision.

"Since making our initial nominations to the BOA, we have been subject to a judicial process that has prevented us from saying more in the public arena than we would want," they said.

"We have respected the confidentiality of the selection process and more importantly we have considered the rights of the athletes involved.

"As a consequence we have been unable to defend against a considerable volume of media and public opinion, much of which has been based upon inaccurate or incomplete information, particularly with regard to our governance."

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May 2012: BOA refuse to ratify decision to leave Cook out of London 2012 taekwondo squad
May 2012: Cook's Olympic dream could be back on after BOA seek "clarification" over Olympic omission
May 2012: Cook retains European taekwondo crown with dramatic final-second victory over world number one
March 2012: Cook and Gayle warm up for European Taekwondo Championships with golds at Dutch Open
June 2011: Three departures confirmed from Taekwondo World Class Performance programme