Bush overcomes ‘sleepless nights’ to win Euro goldImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Matt Bush celebrates after winning Paralympic Gold at Paris 2024Published1 hour agoMatt Bush says he will continue to rise to the challenges he faces in Para-taekwondo after winning European gold for Great Britain two months after the birth of his second child.The Welshman took the European Taekwondo Championships title in Munich in midweek with the build-up to his K44 men’s +80kg triumph against Croatia’s Ivan Mikulic impacted by parental duties.”The preparation was more challenging, for sure,” Bush told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.
“It’s been a busy, busy year. Lots of things going on. I’ve got my little boy now, I’ve got my little girl who’s two, so it’s full‑on.
“Sleepless nights and stuff, when recovery is key – my main recovery method is sleep, so when that goes out the window, it gets quite hard.
“These are just hurdles, so everything’s going to be different. You’re never going to have the perfect run‑up, the perfect prep.
“It doesn’t matter to me. On fight day, I’m going to get up, whatever’s going on, I’m going to get up, I’m going to get my kit on, I’m going to get out there, I’m going to try and win. It doesn’t really matter to me.”
Bush’s Welsh compatriot Lauren Williams was beaten by Germany’s Lorena Brandl in the women’s +73kg final as she earned a silver medal.
“It was integrated with the Olympic side, so we had a huge crowd there, lots of people, lots of things going on,” mentioned Bush.
“We took a good, strong – not the biggest team out with us – but a high‑quality team and the return was massive. Almost everyone medalled, their performances were really good. It was just strong all round.”
Bush says his own success came after Mikulic went a head on points as the contest progressed, eventually winning 18-16 with a flurry of kicks in the final seconds.
“The first round I saw the game plan was working well and I out‑pointed him quite nicely. The second round he changed his game plan, came on different, so I had to adapt, got very close.
“Seconds were counting down, he back‑kicked me, went up on points. I looked at my coach, he gave me the nod, which is just the nod to turn it up a bit.
“So I just went into the next gear and pushed the pace on him and got the points back just in the last second.”
