This includes such talents as Britain's 2019 world champion and Olympic silver medallist Bradly Sinden, and South Korea's Lee Dae-Hoon, a three-time world champion and Olympic silver and bronze medallist.

By the time he contested the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021, however, Zhao had done enough in competition against both men to know he was capable of winning on his day.

Besides, Zhao arrived in the Japanese capital with his own hugely impressive CV that also included world titles in 2017 and 2019 in the under-63kg bantamweight division.

Zhao was honoured by his country as he was chosen to be the Chinese flagbearer at the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony, a duty he shared with women's volleyball player Zhu Ting. 

When it came to his competition, fate would decree that he would face both of his perennial rivals.

After defeating Afghanistan athlete Abdullah Sediqi 22-20, and the Dominican Republic's Bernardo Pié 13-8, Zhao earned a semi-final against Sinden which finished 33-25 in favour of the Briton. 

Sinden would go on to lose a winning position in the final in the last seconds. against Uzbekistan's Ulugbek Rashitov.

So the 6ft 2in athlete from Liaoning then had to concentrate his mind on a bronze medal match which pitted him against none other than Lee, who had come through two rounds of repechage after his shock round-of-16 defeat by the eventual gold medallist.

The Chinese athlete, however, fancied his chances against Lee's dynamic attacking skills.

In the aftermath of a 17-7 win over the South Korean in 2020 in the Sofia Grand Prix Final, Zhao told World Taekwondo: "My coach has a lot of experience, especially with Lee. 

"We learned a lot from him and we know his strong points, Lee is a great fighter, so defence was more important than attack.

"When I defended, it was a good position to counter. Also, a good defence can make an opponent lose his confidence and lose his spirit."

Assessing himself as a player, Zhao cited his physical advantages - "I am tall" - and the resultant tactical advantage - "I am good at distance control, so I know where the opponent is and where to attack".

His favourite move is the high-scoring and crowd-pleasing spinning back kick - an ideal weapon for a defensive fighter.

But he does not always fight at long range. "For some opponents it is good to stay away, for some, it is better to stay in close," he said.

In Tokyo all that careful preparation paid off again as Zhao earned bronze with a narrow 17-15 victory.

One other point for his rivals to bear in mind is that Zhao is married to Shuyin Zheng, the winner of the Rio 2016 heavyweight gold.

Like Zheng's great rival - Britain's world champion Bianca Cook, who works out with, and roars in-match tactical advice to her husband, Moldova's Aaron Cook - Zhang's relationship with Zhao extends beyond the romantic to the professional.

"During training we always stick together," he told World Taekwondo. "During matches, she makes me more confident. She inspires me a lot."