WITH a chiselled jawline, big bouncy hair and dreamy eyes Team GB star Caden Cunningham is model material.
That’s why the 21-year-old taekwondo star, going for gold at Paris 2024, was described by fashion bible GQ as “an Olympic prince (and a menswear king)”.
Growing up in Huddersfield, he dreamed of representing his country at the Games aged 10. Now, his chance has come.
That eventuality was mapped up by his martial arts loving father, who encouraged him to compete against older and bigger boys so he could get “beaten up”.
While his talent and good looks attracted Adidas, who signed him up before the Olympics.
Recognising a handsome sports star when they see one, GQ enlisted Cunningham for a glitzy photoshoot in their April edition.
Wearing clothing by high-end designers like Bottega Veneta, Ferragamo and Intimissimi Uomo, the supreme athlete looked like he belonged on those pages – oozing star quality.
It wasn’t Cunningham’s first appearance in a fashion title, he has also appeared in editorials for Tank and CircleZeroEight.
His forays into the fashion world are aided by Forte Model Management, who have sports models and talent including Lioness star Alessia Russo on their books.
He told The Independent: “My mum absolutely loves it, she always said when I was young, ‘you should be a model Caden’”.
However, he was admittedly terrified when it came to posing for a photographer.
“You wouldn’t believe how nervous I was,” he revealed.
“The key was pretending you know what you’re doing. As soon as I started acting like I’ve done it 100 times then everything started flowing a lot more natural. I’m much more comfortable with it now.”
Navigating his way through life in West Yorkshire, Cunningham’s dad played a big role in his upbringing.
He was a champion kickboxer who guided his son’s career path. The pair made Paris 2024 their target.
Cunningham told GQ: “When we realised taekwondo was an Olympic sport, as opposed to kickboxing, we decided, ‘Right, cool, taekwondo it is.’
“Then we set our goals for Paris 2024, because I did the maths as a kid and figured out I’d be old enough for that time.”
Currently, dedicated Cunningham trains six times a week.
When he was younger, his dad encouraged him to take on bigger “scary” opponents and he would inevitably “get beaten up”.
But, that encouraged him to learn his craft further.
“I was very lucky to be so self-motivated for the sport, so it made it that much easier to get the techniques down because I just wanted to be the best at them,” he said.
For now, 6ft plus Cunningham has his sights set on winning gold in the taekwondo heavyweight division.
“I’m not someone who’s participating in the Games; I’m someone who can win it,” he said in his interview with GQ.
Cunningham has also earmarked a potential career pathway, once he is done with taekwondo.
A huge fan of MMA, he watches the lucrative UFC religiously.
It’s a franchise he can see himself participating in.
“If you’ve got to the top of something – for me, if I feel like I am the best and I’ve proved that, everything after that is underwhelming,” he divulged.
“[So] I’ll be looking towards maybe a different sport and see what I can master next.
“Might be MMA, maybe join the UFC, or continue with taekwondo. Whatever it is, I’ll be aiming to be the best.”
Needless to say, his model agency and Adidas won’t be too happy if that pretty face is bashed up too much.
