East Kilbride taekwondo champion welcomes Olympians home from Paris as Team GB Mini Mascot

A ten-year-old British taekwondo champion from Lanarkshire is bursting with pride after being selected as a Mini Mascot for Team GB.

Blue belt Josh Davidson beat off stiff competition to be handpicked out of a whopping 20,000 entries to win a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to welcome Britain's Olympians home from Paris.

Judges from the British Olympic Association (BOA) were so impressed by the East Kilbride taekwondo star's passion, enthusiasm, energy and support for Team GB in his video entry, Josh was chosen as the only Mini Mascot to fly the flag for Scotland.

As well as being invited on a glittering photo shoot in London with canoe slalom Olympic silver medallist Mallory Franklin, Josh went along to a 'kitting out' in Birmingham where the Olympic gymnastics team collected their Olympic kit and was a VIP guest at the King’s Cross Fanzone watching the action and cheering on Team GB.

The exciting run of events for the young fan culminated in the main event - a trip to London's St Pancras station to welcome 230 Team GB athletes travelling on the golden Eurostar train back home.

As well as those all important selfies with Olympians, the starry-eyed youngster even got his hands on some of the 65 gold, silver and bronze medals Team GB added to their Olympic haul this year.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was also among the well-wishers to greet Team GB during the homecoming and posed for photos with athletes, fans and Mini Mascots which was featured live on BBC News.

Josh told Lanarkshire Live: “It’s been a really fun experience - very exciting. I loved meeting all the athletes, especially British taekwondo athlete Caden Cunningham and Tom Daley.

"I’ve made new friends with the other mascots and we’re going to stay in touch. I love sports even more now but still love taekwondo the most!”

Josh, who started P6 at Crosshouse Primary School last week, has been a member of Master Hutton Taekwondo in the South Lanarkshire town since he was three years old.

Currently a blue belt with red tag, Josh is now working towards his red belt. He was named club competitor of the year in 2023 and loves nothing more than competing in the sport.

Josh won a bronze medal at the Italian Open and has silver medal from the Dutch Open under his belt, and was last year crowned Scottish, English and British champion for his age and grade.

Josh's mum Angela added: "It was an amazing experience and so inspiring. Josh has always been sporty but his favourite sport is taekwondo and he has competed through the UK and also in Rome and Holland so far.

"He had a fantastic time being a Team GB Mini Mascot. It’s been a great experience and definitely once-in-a-lifetime."

Josh was invited to attend the National Lottery Team GB homecoming event at Manchester's AO arena at the weekend where he was thrilled to rub shoulders with even more athletes.

Carly Hodgson, Team GB Head of marketing said: “We’re so excited to announce the first ever Mini Mascots and welcome Josh, Dora, Alice, Amelia, Elliott, and Santino to Team GB for the first time.

"The passion from the six finalists came through really clearly in their entry videos and it was brilliant to see this come to life when meeting them in person. We’re especially happy that the children who made it through the application process represent each of the nations which make up Team GB - England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.”

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