'Monumental': Dumbarton Olympian Rebecca McGowan on her time in Paris

Two-time world championship medalist Rebecca was chosen to represent Great Britain in this year's Paris Olympics, though she missed out on a medal, she says her time at the games was 'phenomenal'.

She has spoken with the Reporter about going to compete, her love for Taekwondo and receiving a homecoming from her old primary school.

Rebecca started the sport as a young girl and it was all down to her best friend at the time.

She said: "My friend who lived in my street did Taekwondo. One day we would be best friends then the next day we would be fighting.

"I found out he did Taekwondo so in my head, as a five to six-year-old, that was why he was beating me up and that's why he could get the upper hand on me.

"I started it mainly to try and be better than him and so he couldn't beat me up anymore.

"It was just a natural click with Taekwondo and I think I just fell in love with it straight away."

Rebecca moved to Manchester at the age of 16 and became an understudy to Bianca Cook for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

She said: "I’ve been an understudy but it was a little bit different because it was covid times.

"It was the thing that gave me that last bit of fire that I needed to actually make it to Paris. There’s always going to be an element of nerves but it's more exciting than anything.

"Nerves will come from the unpredictability of the sport and you genuinely don't know who's going to finish with the medal."

Turkey's Aydin Nafia Kus and Great Britain's Rebecca McGowan (right) during the Women's +67kg bronze medal contest at the Grand Palais (Image: Peter Byrne/PA)

Returning home from such a big event was a 'weird experience' according to Rebecca as she made a visit to her former primary school, St Michael's.

She said: "Coming home was the best thing for me. I've come straight up to Scotland and the first stop that I made was to my grans.

"I think everybody comes back from the Olympics and whether you win, lose, get a medal, or don't medal, everyone's in this weird headspace.

"You've trained for four years for one thing, and it’s done now. So then you end up in a little bit of limbo.

"I went to my old primary school and that was probably the best thing that I could do.

"Seeing the impact that the Olympics makes on the younger kids and seeing how excited they get puts it into perspective.

"It almost feels like the end of the world when we come back and maybe it's not the result we wanted but you go into the school and none of that matters."

Rebecca was joined by her family in Paris as she competed in the French venue Grand Palais.

She added: "I had all my family over there with me which was really nice. Being able to look over to them, whether it was a win, lose, or draw, was comfort.

"That was one thing that we were so lucky about in the stadium that we were in. I think that was the best stadium over there. The best venue was the one that we were lucky enough to fight in.

"I’ve never fought anyone like that before. It just felt monumental. The crowds were amazing. It was phenomenal."

Now, Rebecca says her attention will turn towards recovery before she thinks any further ahead.

"We push through injuries that we should have probably taken a bit more time for. Now, it's about getting my body right again and it's been a long three years.

"I’m going to spend a few months just making sure I am back to where it should be and then get back into training.

" I just want to thank Caledonian Taekwondo, If I didn't have any of them or have any of their support, I never would have made it to where I was."