Oluwatimilehin (Timi) Akinrele’s Taekwondo Journey

Timi’s Taekwondo journey started in 2011 at the age of 6 where he joined his local taekwondo club in South London, Nomad Taekwondo and began making his mark in the Korean Martial Art, by becoming an avid practitioner of both disciplines of Taekwondo, Kyorugi (Sparring) and Poomsae (Performance).

In 2015, Timi was selected to join the Great Britain Poomsae Squad in which he is still a current and long standing member of. In 2016 Timi rose to the rank of 1st Dan Black Belt, a long lived dream that had finally been realised, in addition to acquiring the National Title in Kyorugi (Sparring) in the Olympic Park, Copper Box, London and ranking number 1 in the country for his age and weight later that year. Some notable landmarks on Timi’s Taekwondo Journey include representing Great Britain for Poomsae at both the 2017 European Championships-Rhodes, Greece and 2018 World Championships-Taiwan. Timi acquired a Silver medal in the synchronised Team category at the 2017 European Championships, Great Britain’s first ever medal in the U14 category at an event of this magnitude. Timi would later go on to be selected to represent his country again at the 2019 European Championships in Turkey where he and his teammates would be crowned as European Champions in the synchronised Team category, once again making history. In 2020, Timi would be selected to represent his country once more at the World Championships in Denmark, which would go on to be cancelled due to the global pandemic.

During the course of the lockdown, Timi continued to train diligently, taking part in and winning the virtual Austrian Open in the U17 category as an Individual among other events. After the lockdown Timi took part in numerous competitions, as he transitioned from the young junior level to a more senior age category on the international stage, having won medals and made his mark already at the senior U30 level, in the Hamburg Open, Germany earlier this year. Timi won Dan U30 Individual Gold and Team Dan U30 Pair Gold at the recent Bluewave Poomsae Championships, Basingstoke, Hampshire with Norway, Denmark, Israel and GB Team Mates Competing.

Timi must first conquer his 3rd European Championships and his first in the Dan U30 category, taking place in Innsbruck, Austria this November 2023. Hence making this Gofundme appeal.

After 2 cancelled World Championships (Denmark in 2020 and Korea in 2022), This Euro’s is part of Timi working towards representing Great Britain at the World Championships in Hong Kong in 2024,

Fast forward to the present day, Timi is 18 years old at University and holds the rank of 4th Dan Black Belt, a master in his art and assistant instructor at Nomad Taekwondo, ranking as one of the most senior members of his club. Since the beginning of his Taekwondo journey and at this senior level, all Timi’s training, tournament and travel fees and associated costs for the European and World Championships have been self funded.

We really appreciate any donations that you can provide to help aid Timi’s Taekwondo journey at this time. Thank you for your continued support. God Bless.