Paris 2024: From the movies to the podium: Ivan Mikulic's Para taekwondo journey

When Ivan Mikulic was a child growing up in Croatia, he watched martial arts movies. The antics of the likes of Bruce Lee, Jean Paul van Damme and Chuck Norris got him interested in taekwondo, and, aged six, he headed off to a gym to learn the sport.

That was the start of a journey that took Mikulic to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, where he won silver in the men’s +75kg K44 event, and is now taking him to Paris 2024 as well. 

“The journey was pretty long. I started when I was six, I was competing in some national competitions, not Para taekwondo, in taekwondo. Then when I turned 16 there was the first European championship in Moscow,” Mikulic said.

He won gold at that inaugural European championships, and since then has always been among the top athletes in the sport. Mikulic goes into Paris with five European gold medals and one World Championship title from 2015, but he says his Tokyo 2020 silver medal “is something above and beyond” all his other achievements. 

Fighting for the Paralympic podium

“I was dreaming three months in a row of the finals. It was a very tough fight, like two points difference which is just one kick in the finals,” Mikulic recalls. 

He is proud of the silver medal, especially considering the challenges of the time difference between Europe and Japan. 

“We were there like 10 days and nine days I didn’t even sleep – maybe two to three hours a day – I couldn’t because of the jetlag. A day before my fight I slept 10 full hours. I woke up full like a bird, and was like this is my day. It was great, great,” he says. 

“The feeling when you get to the podium of the Paralympic Games, it’s something else. I can’t describe it. It’s the crown of all these years you’re working. Then you know it’s all worth it. It’s a feeling I wish everyone will experience some day.”

Sport, confidence 

Mikulic was born without his left forearm. “I didn’t care because I just adapt. I have a prosthetic arm which I’m just wearing in my gym for training and that’s all. During childhood I would say of course there were some bullies, but I was a tough kid,” he says. 

“For probably most people with a disability, the biggest challenge is to accept who you are. When you accept what you are, like I do – I can’t do anything about it, my arm would not grow – so you just need to accept it and live it as best as you can.”

Mikulic thinks sport is key to help build confidence in young people, whether that be Para sport or otherwise. 

“Kids want to join, kids want to hang out with each other, learn some sport, but mostly it’s the parents. We need to get to the parents’ head before the kids,” he adds, explaining that parents do not always realise the power of sport for their children. 

“Sport can help people and kids, especially in these days. Often kids are just on their phones or their computers, and I think sport – whether Para sport or regular sport – helps kids learn some things,” Mikulic said. 

“Taekwondo helped me a lot to focus. Any sport you do, you feel more secure. You have more confidence in yourself, you have more focus.”

Kicking it to Paris 2024

That focus helps Mikulic in competition. He likes having a bit of pressure before a competition, but says as soon as he steps on the mat, that goes and he is focused on the fight ahead. Although he is aware that a bit of luck comes into every bout, Mikulic’s message to younger taekwondo fighters is to never give up. 

“I don’t know what else to say. Whatever bothers you, or you feel bad about some competition, you need to still stay focused and never give up. Truth be told, if you give 100 per cent and some other guy gives his 100 per cent and he’s a little bit more talented than you are, he’ll probably win,” he notes. 

All Mikulic’s attention is on Paris 2024 and his bid to improve on the Tokyo silver medal. He expects tough competition, particularly from the likes of Great Britain’s Matt Bush and Turkiye’s Mehmet Sami Sarac.

“Matt Bush, he’s a big guy, a tough guy. (Mehmet Sami Sarac) he’s pretty good too. I think the three of us will be on the podium,” Mikulic predicts. 

But he is ready for the challenge ahead.

“My biggest wish is to stand on that podium in Paris 2024, not on the left or right but in the centre.”

Discover more about Para taekwondo and the sports in the Paris 2024 Paralympic sports programme