Cook cleared for Moldova 2016 switch

Taekwondo fighter Aaron Cook. Credit: Press Association.

Isle of Man taekwondo fighter Aaron Cook has been cleared to change nationality and compete for Moldova in time for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Cook, 24, who was overlooked for the Great Britain taekwondo squad at London 2012, applied for citizenship earlier this month after receiving funding from Moldovan billionaire Igor Iuzefovici and has already received his passport from the small eastern European state.

The decision needed to be ratified by the British Olympic Association (BOA), but that approval came on Thursday morning.

The star was born in Dorset but lives and trains on the Isle of Man.