This 23-year-old from Plaistow in East London, who switched from kickboxing – his father’s sport – to taekwondo in 2013 – has shown ample talent and versatility since, and his performance in earning silver at the World Taekwondo (WT) Grand Prix in Chiba last October only confirmed his growing presence in the sport.

"I was from kickboxing, which is the same sort of thing [to taekwondo]," he told World Taekwondo. 

"The transition from one combat sport to another was not a great challenge. My persona is I adapt well, I am good at learning."

Since working with Team GB's coaching and conditioning staff in Manchester, McNeish has established an estimable CV.

In 2014 he indicated his huge potential in his new discipline by winning bronze in the under-63kg category at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing.

The following year he won bronze in the under-68kg class at the Summer Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea.

He has since earned further success at senior level. His stand-out achievement from 2017 was a bronze medal in the Moscow Grand Prix, where he was narrowly beaten 17-16 in his semi-final by home athlete Alexey Denisenko.

In the next competition after that, the London Grand Prix, the rivalry between himself and Sinden was pointed-up as the younger man beat him 18-17.

The following year he became European champion in the Russian city of Kazan with a 28-21 win over home athlete Sarmat Tcakoev.

There was disappointment for McNeish last year as he lost his opening contest at the Manchester World Championships in May. But his form picked up dramatically with five medals, before competition was suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.

He won the World Taekwondo President's Cup – Oceania, held in Carrara, Queensland, and then stepped briefly up to the under-74kg class in winning bronze at the Australian Open.

Moving on to the Grand Prix at Chiba, he produced one of his most impressive performances, although he had to settle eventually for silver after a hugely competitive final against Iran's Mirhashem Hosseini who won 36-20.

"I am happy with how the day went," he told World Taekwondo in the aftermath.

"I had some good fights, and I improved over my previous performance at GPs and at the Worlds.

"I am definitely happy with how it has gone and I hope to continue to improve on my performance."

In December, at the final Grand Prix of 2019 in Wuxi, McNeish also excelled, only missing out on bronze after losing 2-1 to home competitor Lin Wenye on golden point.

This year has offered him two further material rewards for his talent in the shape of a bronze medal from the WT President's Cup – Europe, held in Helsingborg, and gold in the Hamburg Open.

Asked to assess his own style, he said: "Obviously leg control – but my favourites are any things that are a bit more erratic and dynamic." 

On the technique front, his favoured blows are all crowd-pleasers: back kicks, double kicks and – something that was very much on show during his Chiba final – high kicks delivered from within the clinch.

Clearly he is at home in both open play and the close-in ruck. "I try to be balanced," he said.

He has also prioritised stamina. "I push my fitness, so I can push the fight," he said, which explains the extraordinary work rate that was apparent in his Chiba bouts.

Above all, he is a self-believer. "I rate myself as a fighter and I don't over-rate other fighters," he said. "My dad calls me 'champion.'"