Year 10 student at Beamont Collegiate Academy, Lucy Clarke, 14 returned triumphant from the recent WUKF European Karate Championships held in Sheffield with a bronze medal from the 13 – 14 year old girls category.
Lucy, who trains at least 5 times a week between her two clubs in Warrington, Woolston Karate Centre and Cheshire Martial Arts Club after being head hunted for the SKA England Squad for her talents took to the karate floor within the Kata discipline which involves attacking and defence moves in a sequence.
The event attracts thousands of competitors from across Europe every two years. So Lucy was up against competitors from Romania, Denmark and Italy within her category. After being whittled down from 40 entrants within the 13 – 14 year old girls class to 12 and then to 6 in the final, Lucy was judged by 5 judges who each awarded the competitors a score based on her sequence of moves which was in turn totalled up to award the podium places.
On her bronze medal experience Lucy said “I was quite overwhelmed when it happened because I wasn’t expecting to place. It’s the biggest achievement of my life so far”.
Lucy who has only been training since the age of 10 hopes to open her own Dojo (training club) in the future with her fellow team mate and bronze medal winner Jessica Bates who competed in the 16 – 17 female category.