Before Tokyo 2020 was postponed and rearranged, two Russian fighters had qualified to compete at the Olympic Games - Maxim Khramtsov in the under-80 kilograms and Vladislav Larin in the over-80kg category.

Both athletes topped the world rankings at their weights with a month to go until the start of Tokyo 2020.

At 25, Larin had already assembled a formidable CV that included a complete set of world medals in the under-87kg category - bronze at Chelyabinsk in 2015, silver in Muju in 2017 and gold in Manchester in 2019.

Larin also has two European under-87kg golds in his collection from the 2016 Championships in Montreux and the 2018 Championships in Kazan.

At the 2021 European Championships he had to settle for a silver in the over-87kg category after a monumental struggle with Arman-Marshall Silla of Belarus.

With just seconds to go in round three of the final, Silla equalised to make it 9-9, and in the additional round found just enough to take gold.

Pre-COVID, Larin earned six World Taekwondo Grand Prix titles between 2017 and 2019, most recently in Rome where he defeated Kazakhstan's Ruslan Zhaparov at the Foro Italica Arena.

That performance came just weeks after Larin had won world gold at under-87kg in the Manchester Arena, beating Brazil's Icaro Miguel Soares, who is also picked for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, 19-9 in the final.

What was even more impressive about the victory in Rome, however, was the fact that Larin managed it despite having to fight most of the final with a dislocated finger.

The Russian landed awkwardly on his finger midway through the second round, meaning he had to fight the remainder of the gold medal match with practically one hand.

To make things worse, he was up against pre-tournament favorite, Kyo-Don-in of South Korea.

Before his taekwondo career took off, Larin was a talented gymnast until a fracture to his hand when landing a stunt caused him to switch tracks. 

Larin's outgoing personality, combined with this desire to entertain, formed his captivating style of fighting, most notably his trademark spinning kicks to the head of his opponents.

However, experience has taught Larin that he must pick his moments to unleash these signature moves.

"It is always good to entertain," he said. "I like to perform my spinning kick moves, but you need to know when to use them. They can be useful against some opponents but not against others."

The Rome final match proved to be a fight where Larin had to remain composed and show his adaptability.

"In the final there was no need to use my spinning moves," he said. "I felt like I was always in control. Also the dislocation of my finger meant that I didn't want to take any risks."