Belgian Taekwondo Star Mourad Laachraoui Retires at 25, Transitions to Coaching Role

With a rather laudable career, Mourad Laachraoui is retiring with one regret: not having been able to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Apart from that, the confinement also played a decisive role in the taekwondo player’s decision. "This decision began to germinate in my head some time ago, I wanted to change hats. I hope it’s the right decision. I know I did the right thing."

After all these years spent traveling the world to defend the colors of Belgium, Mourad has wanted to settle down, be closer to his family and give himself a chance to discover other things outside of life on the mats. "It was very difficult for me, it’s not just the training, but also the management of everything that surrounds the training framework, namely sleep, nutrition, studies, it’s really not easy. In addition, there are also the trips, we are quite far from our family. There was the ardor of youth at the time, I could overlook it, but now it’s a bit more complicated," reports bx1.be.

Mourad Laachraoui has very fond memories of his career, the victories he has recorded but also the defeats. For him, it is a whole and this is what constitutes the reasons for which he fought all these years. "The best moments I spent in various places, the trips I was able to make, the meetings, all those with whom I was able to raise the level of Belgian taekwondo."

Currently, he is fighting to teach the younger generation what he has learned from taekwondo. Rime Allali is one of these young French-speaking Belgians he coaches. She is delighted to be able to follow the advice of such a great name in the discipline. "If he has reached this stage and has decided to hang up his boots and devote himself to training people like us, it is because he has a lot of things to bring us and it is a good thing."

Sarah Chaari also agrees. For her, Mourad Laachraoui has a lot to bring them through his experience. "Taekwondo has evolved, it’s not the same as twenty years ago. So there are new strategies, new techniques that are being put in place, and Mourad has a new, more recent look that could help us."

Mourad Laachraoui is a high-level athlete who has recently embarked on Adeps educational training. After validating the general Adeps Sports Monitor Initiator and Educator courses, Mourad obtained his Taekwondo Sports Monitor Initiator (MSIn-T) certificate.