Jordan's Julyana Al Sadeq hopes to inspire as she chases Olympic taekwondo dream

Jordan's Julyana Al Sadeq has come a long way since 2016, when missing out on the Rio Games left her contemplating giving up taekwondo altogether.

Back then the Olympic podium must have felt cruelly out of reach, but fast forward eight years and Al Sadeq heads to Paris among the favourites for a medal in the women's -67kg class.

She says her rise in the intervening years is down to a tireless work ethic and a willingness to explore the psychological side of elite sport. It has also coincided with a golden period for Jordanian taekwondo.

In Rio, Ahmad Abughaush claimed Jordan’s first medal at an Olympic Games by topping the podium in the -68kg division before Saleh El Sharabaty (-80kg) won silver in Tokyo to add a second.

Al Sadeq has also played her part, collecting gold twice at the Asian Championships, qualifying for Tokyo where she placed 11th having also been her nation's flag-bearer, and then becoming the first Jordanian and Arab woman to top the world taekwondo rankings following her victory at the Saudi Grand Prix in December 2022. Last June, she underlined her Olympic medal potential by winning silver at the World Championships in Baku.

“It was incredibly inspiring to represent Jordan on such a huge stage and be my country’s flag-bearer. After the [Tokyo] Games, my determination was to improve,” said Al Sadeq, 29, when asked to reflect on the last four years in an interview with the Olympics in-house media.

“For Tokyo, I qualified through the Asian Qualification Tournament; for Paris, I qualified as one of the top six [athletes] in the world. I set higher goals for myself.”

While those goals undoubtedly include a podium spot come August 9, the Amman-based Al Sadeq is aware of the bigger picture and is happy to