On Saturday October 19th the Dutch Open took place. It's always special participating at this home event. After 5 months without fighting a match, it was great to be back on the mats again. Unfortunately, I didn't win a medal this time. After winning two matches I narrowly lost from the gold medal winner in the quarter finals. Nevertheless, I can look back on a successful event in which I fought three strong matches.

On to the next one!

In preparation for the Dutch Open we were invited to participate in the training camp of the DTU (Deutsche Taekwondo Union) in Nuremberg from Thursday to Sunday October the 13th. It was a very educational exchange for which I would like to thank the German national coach Marco very much!

On to the Dutch Open!

The past two months I was able to do an internship at TRC Advocaten (Veldhoven). The internship was office-wide, which gave me the opportunity to gain experience in various legal areas such as Labour Law, Family Law, Bankruptcies, Private Law and Administrative Law (mainly environmental law). The internship mainly consisted of drafting memos, attending hearings (lawsuits) and meetings and experiencing how the legal profession works in practice. 

It was a very valuable experience to experience how the advocacy looks like!

Now that I have completed the internship, my focus will be on graduating and preparing for the qualification tournaments this upcoming season!

Four years ago, I started my bachelor's degree in Law at Tilburg University. The university has made it possible for me to pursue my top-level sports ambitions in combination with  my studies. In these four years, in addition to almost completing my bachelor's degree, I have also achieved many sports achievements.

The university has a Wall of Fame to recognize and put in the spotlight its students who excel in both their studies and their sporting career. My dream has always been to have my name on this wall next to the tile of my current region coach Tommy Mollet who reached the Olympic Games and also studied at the same university. The past few years have been extremely challenging for me, and I have had to make many sacrifices in order to be able to combine these two careers.

What was initially a dream suddenly became reality. What initially seemed like a long road suddenly turned out to have been completed after taking small steps. I received the message that I had been nominated to be put on the Wall of Fame. As an athlete, you are always looking ahead to what is yet to come, but we hardly ever think about what we have achieved. After winning the nominations, I  realized what great achievements I have achieved over the past four years. This is a great moment to take a moment to look back to it.

Continuously striving for the highest possible level and competing at a world level is an enormous challenge, which I have combined with a university education. The fact that the university recognizes this and has nominated me means a lot to me. It is not always easy to pursue your ambitions with sounds like 'top-level sport is an exaggerated hobby' and 'top-level sport has hardly any added value'. Top-level sport simply has a less favorable position in Dutch society and has minimal support. The fact that the university and more and more other institutions recognize and support the real added value of top-level sport is an important step to the right direction. With the Wall of Fame, the university is encouraging the student athletes. It shows that we are seen and appreciated. But more importantly, our hard work is seen and appreciated.

That is why I would like to thank the University enormously for this award! 

This is one of my highlights that will stay with me for the rest of my life!!

Thank you all!

Since January, I've been testing the headband of Alphabeats to enhance my mental game with programs engineered to give you your edge.

In an interview with the company I was able to share my personal experiences. Alphabeats is still in full development, but is already of great added value to enormously improve your focus and recovery. 

Click on the link below to read the interview!

https://www.listenalphabeats.com/newsroom/taekwondo-champion-reaches-new-heights-with-alphabeats

Last weekend I participated with the Luxembourg Open 2024. After 2 wins, I unfortunately narrowly lost the semi-finals, which results me in winning the bronze medal this time.

A while ago I had an interview with Tilburg University about my Dual Career as a student athlete. The university has supported me enormously for years in making it possible to combine both careers as best as possible. In the article, I spoke more specifically about the support I received from the University.

Are you interested? Click on the link below and check out the article!

https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/nl/magazine/overzicht/aymen-achnine-topsport-betekent-vaker-verliezen-dan-winnen

In addition to pursuing my top sports career, I have now almost completed my bachelor's degree in Law. Today I completed the Mock Court course, which focused on advocacy skills. On May 22, I have to plead in court in a gown before judges and lawyers from the practice. This was a great experience to gain some sense of how advocacy works in reality.

At 10th of May, I participated with the European Taekwondo Championships 2024 in Belgrade (Serbia). I represented the Netherlands in the weight category -58kg. After winning my first fight against Georgia, I unfortunately lost in the 1/8 final against Hungary.