Martial Arts and Medicine: Cosmo Calesini on Taekwondo presidency and Sports Awards nomination
Downing's Cosmo Calesini (2024) has spent the last year as President of the Cambridge University Taekwondo team. His commitment to Taekwondo saw him nominated for the Sports Club Personality of the Year prize at the University of Cambridge Sports Awards. We caught up with Cosmo ahead of the awards to find out more about his role as President, his nomination and his time at Downing.
What do you study at Downing College?
I am a second-year medical student, looking to study PDN (Physiology, Development and Neuroscience) in my third year.
How did you become interested in Taekwondo? What was your involvement in the sport like before you came to Cambridge?
I saw a video that the YouTubers The Slow Mo Guys did with the South Korean national Taekwondo squad and I thought the kicks looked really cool. Though he didn’t stick with it for long, I convinced my brother to take it up with me. Before coming to Cambridge, I attended the weekly classes that my home club runs, and occasionally participated in competitions both for sparring and patterns.
How did you get involved with the University Taekwondo team?
Even before getting my offer, I was stalking the Taekwondo club on Instagram, so I was dead set on joining; when I met the previous president at Freshers’ Fair I also found her demeanour to be very welcoming, and that only reinforced me wanting to continue practising taekwondo. I showed up to as many sessions as I had time for and tried to get involved in all the social activities the club organised.
You have been President of the Taekwondo team this year. What has this role entailed?
The position of president is quite demanding. Generally speaking, I am in charge of making sure that everyone in the committee knows what their role is and what they should be doing, and at the same time communicating with our professional coaches to make sure everything is in order. My role consists of replying to a lot of WhatsApp messages as quickly as possible, as well as sending many myself. As president, it is important that I show my face at sessions and act as a kind of role model to those newly joining the club, in terms of etiquette and enthusiasm. The most stressful part of the job is ensuring we have rooms to run the sessions in, and finding them as quickly as possible if I realise we don’t have any booked.
How have you found balancing your studies with being President?
My studies, of course, take priority over my role as president, and the coaches and other members of the committee understand that. Most days, the admin is very quick and painless, and because of that, it does not affect how much work I can get done. Other days, organising activities and outings for competitions becomes challenging and time-consuming; however, these days are rare.
What have been your favourite memories of competing for the Taekwondo team?
During my first year, competing in varsity and ending a 17-year drought by winning the event overall was an amazing high. Any social with the club, however, is memorable as all members are lovely to hang out with; my favourite swaps are those where we teach other clubs our sport, while they teach us theirs.
How did it feel to be nominated for the Sports Club Personality of the Year?
I was very surprised, especially since I didn’t realise until a week later. Last year, I was nominated for newcomer of the year, but ultimately did not win the overall award. In the end, it is thanks to my teammates’ amazing attitude toward the sport that I am able to open up and be myself during the sessions.
Do you think being involved in a sports club has been beneficial to your time at Cambridge?
Without Cambridge Taekwondo, I would have much fewer friends, and my mental and physical health would certainly be worse. Having something to look forward to at the end of the day (or something to force yourself to go to when you are not in the mood to do anything) is very good after a hard day of work. Even if bruises are common and my feet hurt all the time, the trade-off is that I get to be around my amazing team while working out hard. Getting kicked in the face regularly is a plus.
What’s your favourite thing about Downing?
Quite selfishly, I love how close Downing is to the Downing Site and all of the buildings where lectures and practical classes take place; being able to get up and shower at 8.50am for a 9am lecture and still make it on time is not something many other students can brag about. I think being able to play football on the paddock is also great. My wonderful, amazing, intelligent friends are also here.
Published 29 June 2026