After claiming Team GB’s second gold of the Baku 2015 European Games, teenage taekwondo sensation Charlie Maddock admitted she was struggling to take it all in.
Despite a scare in her -49kg preliminary round – where she beat Ukraine’s Iryna Romoldanova 8-7 – Maddock was in fine form in her quarter-final clash as she comfortably dispatched of Italian Erica Nicoli 17-3.
Next up was Ivett Gonda of Hungary and after Maddock had secured a spot in the final with a 4-1 victory, the 19-year-old broke down in tears.
However, she composed herself to face off against reigning European and world junior champion Tijana Bogdanovic from Serbia, going on to claim gold thanks to golden point after the pair were locked at 9-9 after the six minutes of regulation time.
And Maddock, a former kickboxer who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Champions in Edinburgh, was lost for words when all was said and done.
“I just feel overwhelmed,” said Maddock, who earlier saw compatriot Max Cater exit the men’s -58kg competition at the quarter-final stage.
“I put so much hard work into getting into the semis but to win the final is just the icing on the cake.
“I feel I put everything into that fight so it’s great to come out on top. I stuck to my game plan after going behind, which is all I could do and had to keep fighting.
“Usually I have to attack first and get the points. If I sit back I tend to concede so I may as well keep pushing but that didn’t seem to work in the final and we kept clashing so I thought I may as well just punch to try and get that final point.
“I’m going to come up against the best but I’ll take on whoever – you have to fight them anyway - and I’m happy to take them on.”
© Sportsbeat 2015