PARIS — CJ Nickolas arrived in Paris wearing a custom leather jacket made for him by his good friend. The jacket, which he wore over his uniform at the introductions of each game, is decorated with patches from past Olympics and bears the words “Go for the Gold.”

Nickolas, a taekwondo fighter from Brentwood, wanted to wear jewelry to match his jacket, but he lost the bronze medal match and was left with only questions.

“The whole day was magical,” he said. “It was super emotional and I believed in myself. I showed my true self and it was a big risk and I failed. I didn’t make it.”

“I need to look inside myself and find out why today wasn’t enough. Maybe this is exactly what I needed to do incredible things over the next four years and remember this terrible, terrible pain.”

Nickolas arrived in Paris more than two weeks ago, but had to wait until the Games were almost over before his Olympic Games could begin. His day was long: his first game was in the morning. The bronze medal match was at around 9 p.m.

“I’ve waited 20 years, so I could wait a few more days,” he said.

He’s serious about waiting. The 23-year-old started taekwondo at age three, begging his mother to let him do “kung fu” after watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Denise did a little research and enrolled him in taekwondo because it was an Olympic discipline and officially became one in 2000, a year before he was born.

“I didn’t want to put him in a sport that was going nowhere,” said Denise Nickolas.

The path that began in a small studio in the Somersville Mall in Antioch led to the historic Grand Palais in Paris.

“I’ve never been in a stadium like this,” said Nickolas, who was introduced on the balcony of the Rotunda with his opponent before each game and walked down the golden staircase. “It’s so beautiful.”

He had a large group of supporters in the stands: nine family members, including Denise, and several friends. Denise had only seen her son once since his arrival in Paris earlier in the week.

“I’m not usually that nervous,” said Denise, who used to compete in her age group and has spent every day at the Taekwondo center since arriving in Paris.

Nickolas had spent two weeks in the athletes’ village and slept on one of the notorious cardboard beds. But on Thursday evening, the next day of his competition, he moved into a hotel.

“I slept better than ever before,” he said.

Nickolas’ day started early against an opponent from the Olympic refugee team. Farzad Mansouri was the flag bearer for Afghanistan in Tokyo, but fled Taliban rule and now trains in the UK. Most of the arena cheered him on. But Nickolas defeated him in two rounds.

He took a nap between fights before facing Faysol Sawadogo of Burkina Faso in the quarterfinals. Nickolas won that fight in two consecutive rounds.

But Nickolas was weak against the Tunisian Firas Katoussi, losing the first round and then also the second round due to “superiority” – Katoussi received points for kicks made, Nickolas for penalties.

“CJ fought well,” said his trainer Gareth Brown. “Decisions are made in a split second. He got better as the day went on, so it’s disappointing that he lost because he has improved.”

Nickolas is a crowd puller with his spectacular roundhouse kicks. But he now feels like a smarter fighter.

“It’s about chess, not anything else,” he said. “They have different strategies to slow me down or speed me up. I have to figure out how to win.”

His opponent in the bronze medal match was a particularly tough opponent. Nickolas had never beaten the Italian Simone Alessio, the former two-time world champion.

“I’ve fought him six or seven times and we’ve tried so many different game plans,” Nickolas said. “He’s a unit. He’s 6-foot-4 … he’s a monster in the division. Other people have gotten him, but I haven’t clicked that code yet.”

Nickolas already has his sights set on the next Games in 2028 in Los Angeles, where he can add another patch to his jacket.

But on Friday evening he wanted to put on his individual Olympic gear and finally conquer the streets of Paris.

Reach Ann Killion: [email protected]; Twitter: @annkillion