Michael Paul Harvey (born 21 September 1989) is a British

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

practitioner. He is a European champion at bantamweight (under 63 kilograms), a World silver medalist and has competed in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing.

Early life

Harvey grew up in

Hyde, Greater Manchester Hyde is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, which had a population of 34,003 in 2011. Historically in Cheshire, it is northeast of Stockport, west of Glossop and east of Manchester. History Early history Newton Hall was presen ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and as a teenager he attended Longdendale Community Language College in

Hollingworth Hollingworth is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is about 11 miles (19 km) east of Manchester on the Derbyshire border near Glossop. Historically part of Cheshire, it gave its name to a ...

, Hyde.

Taekwondo career

Harvey began the sport of

at the early age of 5 years old. After many years of success in the junior ranks he made the switch to the senior divisions and made the GB Taekwondo team for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Michael lost his first bout to World Silver Medalist and now Olympic Champion Guillermo Perez of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on golden point as the match drew to a close and scoreline of 2-2. In the repechage first round match Michael lost to the man who became

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

's first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

medalist in history,

Rohullah Nikpai Rohullah Nikpai ( prs, روح‌الله نیکپا; born June 15, 1987) is an ethnic Hazara taekwondo practitioner and two-time Olympic bronze medalist from Afghanistan. Career Nikpai started his training in Kabul, Afghanistan, at the age of 1 ...

. The match finished with a scoreline of 2-1.

Taekwondo medals

References

English male taekwondo practitioners Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic taekwondo practitioners of Great Britain Living people People from Hyde, Greater Manchester 1989 births European Taekwondo Championships medalists World Taekwondo Championships medalists 21st-century British people {{UK-taekwondo-bio-stub