Mahama Cho (born 16 August 1989) is a taekwondo practitioner who competes in the +87 kg category. Born in the Ivory Coast, he has represented both Great Britain and France in the sport.
Early life and personal life
Abdoufata Cho Mahama was raised by his grandmother in the Ivory Coast; his father was abroad and his mother was unable to care for him. A practising Muslim, he attended an Arabic school in Abidjan. As a child, Cho was bullied.
Cho moved to London at the age of eight, at the request of his father. Cho's father Zakaia was a former African taekwondo champion who was teaching the sport there whilst also driving taxis. When he arrived in England, staying first in Kennington and then in Stockwell, Cho was unable to speak any English. He lived with his father's new family, forming a particularly close friendship with his step-brother David.
In 2014, he became engaged to French heptathlete
Antoinette Nana Djimou
Antoinette Nana Djimou Ida (born 2 August 1985 in Douala, Cameroon) is a Cameroonian-French heptathlete and pentathlete. She has won two
European Athletics Championships heptathlon gold medals (in 2012 and 2014) and two European Athletics I ...
. but their relationship ended in late 2017.
Football career
Cho played semi-professionally for Erith Town. He trialled with
Dagenham and Redbridge
Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as ...
at the age of 16. He gave up his football career at the age of 17 to focus on taekwondo.
Taekwondo career
He joined the British taekwondo squad at the age of 17. He was injured at the 2011 World Championships. After that event, he moved to Paris to study. He joined the French taekwondo squad, winning gold at 2013 Dutch and USA Opens.
After returning to compete for Britain, at the
World Taekwondo Grand Prix
The World Taekwondo Grand Prix is a taekwondo competition introduced by the World Taekwondo Federation in 2013 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic taekwondo tournament. It consists of four competitions per year in ea ...
he won a gold medal in 2013, and a silver medal in 2014. In January 2016 he secured Britain their fourth and final qualifying place for the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2015
* President's Cup, in Hamburg, Germany
* European Olympic Qualification Tournament, in Istanbul, Turkey
* Polish International Open, in Warsaw, Poland
* US Open, in Las Vegas, United States
* Serbia International Open, in
Belgrad
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 million ...
, Serbia
* Grand Prix, in Moscow, Russia
2014
* Paris International Open, in Paris, France
* Commonwealth Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland
* Swiss International Open
* Bahrain International Open, Bahrain
* Grand Prix Series in Astana, Kazakhstan
* Luxor International Open, in Luxor, Egypt
* Fujairah International Open, in United Arab Emirats
* Grand Prix, in
Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
, China
2013
* Grand Prix Final in Manchester, England
* German International Open, in Hamburg, Germany
* Dutch International Open, in
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Paris, France
* Spanish International Open, in
Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...
, Spain
* US Open, in Las Vegas, England
2012
* Israel International Open, in Tel-Aviv, Israel
* Spanish International Open, in
Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...