A 13-year-old from Warminster has won a gold medal at the English National Taekwondo Championships this month.
Jake Ayre won gold in the boys’ black belt category in the martial art of taekwondo at the championships, held in Worcester.
“I am really proud of myself to have made this achievement as I have been working hard over the past three years since I made my black belt grade,” said Jake, a student at Kingdown School.
Jake’s recent achievement comes after he won double gold at the South West Championships earlier this year and beat more than 100 other black belts in the area to win a grading award at the end of 2025.
His parents, Ben and Steph, said, “We are incredibly proud of Jake’s continuous achievement in the sport. Every week Jake is focused and ready for every session. His dedicated practice at home has paid dividends, even more so as Jake has tried three times before at national level, but was always pipped at the post.
“He was very nervous on the way to the tournament, which was a 5.30am start, leaving home to be in Worcester for 8am. With it being Mother’s Day, this only added to the pressure.
Rare achievement
“Talking about the five tenets of taekwondo, we spoke about perseverance. Nerves settled, he did the unthinkable and won gold. The judges also commented that it is a rare achievement for anyone to win gold at both regional and national level in the same year and also said his Pattern Po-Eun was technically best on the day from all 30 black belts competing.”
Jake has been doing taekwondo for eight years and earned his black belt at 10 years of age. He trains at Warminster Tae Kwon-Do.
Jake’s instructor, Richard Latham, who is a 7th Degree World Master, said, “Since Jake passed his black belt just before his 11th birthday, he has accelerated his progress in taekwondo. Receiving the best junior at a black belt grading award near the end of 2025, winning gold in both individual patterns and sparring at the regional tournament and now winning gold at a national competition is incredibly impressive.
Huge inspiration
“Although Jake is still a junior himself, he provides a huge inspiration to students of all ages at the Warminster Tae Kwon-Do club.”
Jake added, “Taekwondo has helped me as a young person both in and out of school, as you have to be very disciplined and respectful. I really encourage people of all ages to come and give it a try, meet new people, make friendships and fun memories.
“Thank you to my instructor Master Latham and my mum and dad for all the encouragement, support and time to help me get to where I am today.”
Looking forward, Jake is hoping to improve from a 2nd Star grade to 3rd Star and compete in the British Championships later this year.
