The scheme has run for more than a decade and fast-tracks athletes from a variety of martial arts backgrounds into high-performance sport.

It is backed by UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport, and previously helped to produce stars like Olympic silver medallist Lutalo Muhammad, World Championship silver medallist Damon Sansum and triple European champion Lauren Williams.

Jodie McKew, Mia Pachansky, Catherine Makanjuola, Kimberley Barnes, Maisie Hockey, Joshua Dancer, Jacob Fairhead, Joshua Long and Danyaal Butt are the nine athletes who have been successful.

McKew, Pachansky and Butt represented Britain at the 2018 European Cadet Championships, while Long competed at the 2019 European Junior Championships.

The rest of the group come from kickboxing and karate backgrounds, with all nine due to move to Manchester in July to begin training at the National Taekwondo Centre.

"The Championships made me want to start training full-time straight away so I can't wait to move to Manchester," said McKew.

"My aim is to train as hard as I can every day to get better and improve so I can achieve my goals and dreams.

"When I got through I was so excited and phoned my parents straight away because they have helped me along the way."

Fairhead added: "I was at the dentist with my mum when the email came through.

"I knew what it was but I didn't want to open it. 

"It was the longest drive home ever. 

"When I saw I had made it I was thrilled and couldn’t stop smiling.

"I want to learn as much as I can about all aspects of being an athlete to help me progress towards my goal of winning the Olympics."