Liam Sweeney is a Taekwondo athlete who was awarded a Tier 3 Scholarship within the 2022 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program.
Liam was born in Ireland in 2003 and moved to Brisbane at age 8 where he started training at One Taekwondo under Master Yong H Hur.
Liam is a multiple, repeat national champion and has risen from cadets to G ranked events with great success. He won his first national title in 2012 almost immediately after taking up the sport, and won multiple events at national championships in 2014, 2017 and 2018.
Domestic success soon led to international success and he won silver at the Greece Open and the New Zealand Open in 2018, as well as bronze at the Israel Open in 2019, the same year that he won gold at the Australian Open and at the Oceania President’s Cup. In total, he has won nine international medals, five national titles, five state titles and numerous local and interstate championships.
Accolades and medals attracted the attention of the top coaches in the country, and in 2020 he joined the national taekwondo training facility in Melbourne to work with coach Karim Dighou. The expert advice and competition within the hub lifted him to gold in the AQT Open and silver at the Dutch Open in 2020.
While training full-time for Taekwondo, Liam has been completing his year 12 studies and dedicating himself to one day achieving his dream of Olympic success.
“This scholarship will help support me in ensuring my ability to travel and gain the necessary experience and required ranking points for Olympic selection. The Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship will support my essential international travel to develop as an athlete, reach my potential and represent Australia at the highest level. It is an honour to have been selected as a Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship recipient and to be recognised alongside some of Australia’s most promising athletes.” – Liam Sweeney on being selected as a 2022 Tier 3 Scholarship Holder.
Awards, Honours & Achievements
- 2012: National Champion
- 2014: Two-Time National Champion
- 2017: Three-Time National Champion
- 2018: Four-Time National Champion
- 2018: Greece Open – silver
- 2018: New Zealand Open – silver
- 2019: Israel Open – bronze
- 2019: French Open – silver
- 2019: Australian Open – gold
- 2019: Oceania President’s Cup – gold
- 2020: AQT Open – 1st
- 2020: Dutch Open – silver
- 2021: Five-Time National Champion
- 2021: World Taekwondo Championships Selection Event – gold, -68kg
- 2022: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder – Tier 3
