Olympics-bound Bradly Sinden gets Tokyo send-off at Atlas Academy

The 22-year-old taekwondo star, from Stainforth, took time out from his preparations for Tokyo by dropping in on the Doncaster school’s Olympics Day.

His mother Sheryl is a teaching assistant at the school.

“The kids wanted to see him – he’s been in before and they’ve got a bit of a connection – and give him a good send off,” said Sheryl.

“Because of the restrictions he had to do four presentations for the various bubbles, bless him, but it went really well.

“The kids love seeing him, they love listening to him. Last time he came he couldn’t kick because he was injured so this time he demonstrated his kicks and they were all impressed.

“Bradly spoke about his taekwondo journey, how it started, what he’s won and his message to the kids was about being resilient, never giving up even when things don’t go your way and always trying your best.

“The kids really take it on board. Some of the kids can’t sit still during assemblies normally but they all really seemed to take it in.

“We do taekwondo as an after school club here but we’ve only been able to do it for one bubble group at the moment due to the restrictions,” she added.

“A number of the children keep asking me about wanting to do taekwondo.

“Taekwondo isn’t just a great sport, it’s good for discipline and it connects with a lot of the values of our school.”