BIANCA COOK’s Olympics career is essentially over – as she starts work as a BBC TV pundit.
The Liverpool taekwondo star won bronze medals in the +67kg class in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021 and is a multiple world champion.
Yet she has had a difficult three-year Olympiad since coming home from Japan, battling for selection with newcomer Rebecca McGowan from Dumbarton.
Only one Brit can go in each weight class.
And the squad announcement is being made tomorrow in Birmingham less than a month before the Games start.
In May, Cook – formerly known as Bianca Walkden until she married fellow fighter Aaron Cook two years ago – represented the Isle of Man at the European Championships.
This was a desperate late attempt to try to reach the Games and show off her combat pedigree but it did not work.
Cook, 32, has been named on the BBC’s rollcast of commentators for Paris.
There she will give expert analysis on the sport, which will be staged at the Grand Palais by the Champs-Élysées.
The Olympics open on Friday July 26 with an extravagant Opening Ceremony boat parade along the River Seine.
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A number of ex-Olympians will also be on the Beeb’s coverage of the tournament, including Jessica Ennis-Hill, Nicola Adams and Rebecca Adlington.
There are new events which will be covered as well including break dancing and skateboarding, which SunSport got an exclusive look at ahead of the games.
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