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Amy Truesdale and Matt Bush wrote their names into the history books by grabbing Great Britain’s maiden Paralympic taekwondo golds on a milestone evening in Paris.
Truesdale triumphed in the women’s K44 +65kg event when defending champion Guljonoy Naimova was dramatically stretchered out of the final.
With the Briton dominating and leading 8-2, the Uzbekistani fighter stayed down following a kick to the throat before withdrawing from the contest with just over a minute remaining.
Welshman Bush backed up his team-mate’s landmark success by beating Russian Aliaskhab Ramazanov 5-0 in the showpiece match of the men’s K44 +80kg event.
Chester-born Truesdale faced an anxious wait to discover her fate after her rival departed in distress before jubilantly performing the splits in the centre of the octagon following the referee’s decision.
“I’m delighted, I’ve made history, I’ve got my last wish which was to complete para taekwondo: I’m European, world and now Paralympic champion all in one go,” she said.
“The sacrifices you make, it’s not been three, four years, it’s been 27 years of my life, I haven’t put any focus into anything else other than taekwondo and sometimes you think, ‘is it worth it?’. Today, it’s definitely worth it.”
Victory for the 35-year-old significantly upgraded the bronze she won on the sport’s Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020.
Naimova defeated Truesdale in the semi-finals en route to glory in Japan and was backed by the drums and coordinated claps of passionate Uzbeki fans who had turned out in force amid the splendour of the Grand Palais.
“Obviously I’d kicked and it slipped up so it wasn’t intentional but luckily the decision went in my favour to prove that it was an accidental thing,” Truesdale said of the incident which ended the contest prematurely.
“I was concerned, I just thought, ‘please don’t let this happen to me I’ve had such a good day, I’ve dominated the division all day’.
“We’ve had a little chat backstage and she did take a couple of head shots (in an earlier round) so she was suffering from that.
“We’ve just had a hug, we’ve had some great fights over the years but she’s fine at the moment.”
Truesdale, who was teary-eyed on the podium, will remain in France until the closing ceremony and then fancies an appearance on BBC dance show Strictly Come Dancing.
She said: “That is my plan. I said it: ‘this year I’m getting a gold medal and then get on Strictly’.
“I’m single, so I’ll probably get a fella as well. It’s really amazing the show is so inclusive and I’d love to be a part of it. Fingers crossed. It would be amazing.”
Former shot putter Bush was selected for Tokyo but was forced to withdraw due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
“The injuries and the setbacks, I learnt so much from that and I feel I grew a lot,” said the 35-year-old.
“It’s just really nice to have my family here, my friends here, most of the time we don’t get that opportunity. It’s just amazing to have everyone here for once, in a big, amazing arena and I was lucky enough to pull it out on the day.”
