Aaliyah Powell is a phenomenon.
She practices taekwondo, an unforgiving Korean kicking sport, where seconds count and the margins between victory and defeat are even smaller than that.
Born in Huddersfield and based in Manchester, Aaliyah is breaking boundaries and has three World Championship medals to her name by the age of 20, while she also claimed European Games bronze in Krakow.
Here are five things that she wants YOU to know about HER.
I'm passionate about fashion
I've always loved fashion and expressing myself through what I wear.
I like experimenting when I can and take my inspiration from YouTubers like Emma Chamberlain.
I'll follow the Met Gala and seeing all the different outfits, I really like that. It's something I'm passionate about and keen to get involved in more.
I had to choose between taekwondo and street dance
Most people think taekwondo was the first sport I did. Actually, it was street dance.
I danced at a local club with my sisters and we were lucky enough to win some national titles.
At those competitions, I got used to performing in front of lots of people which helps for sport. I'd often be dancing by myself, which built my confidence.
Performing can be intimidating sometimes - so I draw on that experience a lot.
My Grandma is my rock
My Grandma Edna has been a big influence on me because she cares for people a lot and she’s always looked after me and helped to raise me. She puts other people before herself.
She’s figured out how to watch my fights on YouTube now, so she messages me when I’m at competitions to say she’s watching! She looks after everyone in the family and makes sure they’re alright.
She's seen me on the journey and what my ambitions have been since I was a kid and through all the years.
She’s funny, she makes cute, witty jokes and she doesn’t take things too seriously. She’s the classic Grandma in that she looks after people with food, always cooking nice meals.
She taught me how to bake when I was younger and showed me how to do a lot of fundamental things. She definitely likes to show love through food.
Two surgeries made me realise how strong I am
The first year that I joined the GB Taekwondo academy, I tore my meniscus in my knee and I had two surgeries a year apart. That was a big thing I had to overcome and it was just as I was starting my senior career.
Mentally, it was hard because you miss out on a lot and your body isn't doing what it's supposed to do. There were times when I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do taekwondo, or at least to the level I was before, but I had to keep believing.
To come back and still be successful, I’m really proud of that journey and I think it taught me a lot. I wouldn’t be the athlete I am now without it.
Medicine is my calling
I want to study medicine after I’ve done taekwondo. I’m really into the biology and that’s another career I want to pursue.
I think that life is the most precious thing and being able to help people with that and change people’s lives and save them - what could be more rewarding than doing that? It’s the one thing everyone holds dear and something we can all appreciate.
The human body and how it works really interests me. When I first decided that’s what I wanted to do, psychiatry was what I found really interesting with human behaviour and the mind and how it works which links into me as an athlete and what I do.
They go hand in hand. Now I’m more open minded to the careers you can go into and I’ll see where it takes me.
Sportsbeat 2023