Two-time Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones is leading a Taekwondo talent identification and development camp at the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium in Guwahati, organized by the Assam government in collaboration with the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS). Launched on Sunday and running until January 22, the camp aims to identify and prepare young athletes for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, providing world-class expertise from Jones, World Champion Jaouad Achab, and IIS High Performance Director Gary Hall.
The five-day program includes 84 athletes and 22 coaches from Assam, focusing on scouting young female athletes and enhancing coaching standards through modern high-performance systems. Participants are assessed on their technical skills and competitive potential, while coaches receive training in international best practices and athlete development. Jones has expressed admiration for the quality of athletes in Assam, noting the potential for rapid improvement with proper support.
Furthermore, the camp feeds into an international development roadmap by IIS. Athletes identified during the camp will advance to a two-week training and assessment at IIS, followed by a two-month training block in Europe, a high-performance camp in South Korea, and potential selection into the IIS High-Performance Programmed. Hall emphasized the camp’s role in enhancing India’s Olympic aspirations, particularly in women’s sports, and highlighted Assam and the North-East as crucial regions for developing taekwondo talent.
