Daniel Trenton

Early life

Trenton was born on 1 March 1977 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, the son of Greg and Gina Trenton. He grew up in a housing commission in the suburb of Fitzroy North. He began training in taekwondo when his parents bought him a lesson in the martial art for his 11th birthday. He trained in taekwondo in the Victorian Taekwondo Academy. In 1995, he won a scholarship to the Victorian Institute of Sport, which was to become his main training institution. Joon No was one of his taekwondo coaches.

Competitive taekwondo career

Trenton began his international competitive career in the heavyweight division, participating in two tournaments before winning his first medal: a silver medal at the 1996 Asian Championships in Melbourne. He won bronze medals at the 1997 World Cup in Cairo and the 1999 World Championships in Edmonton. Around this period, he was working as a taekwondo instructor, and was studying recreation management at the Victoria University of Technology.

Leading up to the 2000 Summer Olympics, Trenton held 10 Australian taekwondo championship titles. He made it to the final match of his division, but lost 6-2 to Kim Kyong-Hun from South Korea. After winning the silver medal, he tried starting a legal career with tertiary studies at Monash University, but soon returned to taekwondo competition as his main occupation. He also coached the Monash University taekwondo team while in his third year of studies at the institution. In 2001, he was a quarter-finalist at the World Championships, and in 2002 he placed second at the Asian Championships in Amman and the World Cup in Tokyo. He was listed at 180 cm (5' 11") in height and 86 kg (190 lb.) in weight.

Trenton dropped a weight division for his next Olympic Games campaign, entering the weltweight (–80 kg) division. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Trenton competed but did not make it through the final rounds; he was defeated in a quarter-final match by eventual bronze medallist Yousef Karami from Iran. By the end of his competitive career, Trenton held 16 Australian taekwondo championship titles, and had three major operations (three shoulder reconstructions and one ankle reconstruction).

Post-competition career

Trenton was appointed Head Coach for Taekwondo Australia in November 2005. In 2006/07, he served on the Board of Management for Taekwondo Australia. In 2007, he was Head Coach of taekwondo for the Australian Institute of Sport, and the following year, he was Head Coach for the Australian Olympic taekwondo team in 2008.

Trenton now contributes to the Global sport of Taekwondo as Director of Sports for Sports Taekwondo Australia and is Director of Be Taekwondo, a martial arts and fitness centre located in Brunswick East http://www.betaekwondo.com.au. Here Daniel contributes to his local community by conducting Taekwondo and fitness training for residents located in the areas from where he was raised. He holds the rank of 6th Dan.

Daniel is a global patron for the sport of Taekwondo having been appointed by the President of the International Olympic Committee as athlete Athlete Role Model for the Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010 http://www.olympic.org/content/press-release/press-release-ioc-announces-line-up-of-sport-stars-supporting-the-first-youth-olympic-games/ and by the Asia Olympic Council as Head of Youth Olympic Camp 2013

Daniel has also been appointed to the World Taekwondo Federation as Chair of Education & Development http://www.sta.asn.au/?Page=1219

Daniel is also registered as an Australian Legal Practitioner, acting as a commercial lawyer at JK Legal Barristers and Solicitors http://www.jk-legal.com/team/ and has advised some of Australia's leading sports people via his role as Strategic Management counsel http://www.sfga.com.au/legal/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140605070134/http://strategicma.com.au/ourtalent/