Russia, the United States and South Korea won one gold medal each on the opening day of the 2015 World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Grand Prix Series 2 here.

Britain’s Olympic taekwondo bronze medallist Lutalo Muhammad, who grew up watching videos of boxing greats such as Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson, has engaged in some classic fighter’s talk ahead of a possible meeting later this week with Aaron Cook.

Tickets for October’s World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Grand Prix in Manchester have gone on sale, it has been announced.

Iran's Mahdi Khodabakhshi, a brilliant master of the dark arts of the modern sport, clinically overpowered Britain's Damon Sansum to claim the final title of the World Taekwondo Championships here this evening.

It may hold the rather dubious honour of having American nu metal act Limp Bizkit and English veteran Sting as the best known musicians to have played within its walls, but the 7,500 capacity Traktor Ice Arena in Chelyabinsk has this week provided another strong advert for Russia’s reputation as an efficient host of major sporting events.