Reece Taylor, 17, from Digby Road, Barking has a lot to celebrate. Reece has just become England's first Gold Kata Champion.
Reece won the final of the 34th European Cadet and Junior Championships. He took the gold in Izmir, Turkey, beating Spain 3 flags to 2.
Reece says:
"I entered the competition last year and won Silver and I knew I had 1 more shot at the Gold before I went up into the Junior age group. I'm extremely proud as the standard was unbelievably high. My family flew out to the competition which was a surprise and my family are over the moon with my win."
It was also sweet revenge for Reece as last year he entered the competition and took the Silver medal whilst Spain won Gold, and this year Reece took Gold and the same Spanish contestant came runner-up. Reece says:
"After winning Silver last year I knew I had to change my Kata technique as the European technique is very different to the United Kingdom technique."
The competition took place in Izmir, Turkey, and the team from the Harlow based Hanko-Ryu Karate-Do Association flew out the week beforehand.
Reece was also spurred on by the surprise visit from his dad and other family members and Reece had no idea his family would be there. He says:
"During the first round, I heard cheering and recognised the voices. It was brilliant to see my family there and it gave me a huge boost."
Reece has been training since the age of 4 when he was inspired by the film The Karate Kid. He says:
"One night I stayed up late with my dad and we watched The Karate Kid. I did lots of punches and kicks so my dad signed me up to a Karate club the next day."
Reece's daily training involves 2 hours of Kata and 1 hour of running, weights, circuit training and gym work at his Karate club in Harlow and also his local gym at Barking Abbey School.
Reece is now looking forward to the World Championship which takes place in November.
Reece is just one of a number of sporting youngsters supported by The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham through its Free Access for National Sportspersons (FANS) Scheme.
The borough currently has 20 young athletes who have made their national squads which bodes well for future competitions and tournaments such as World, European, and the Olympics 2012.
Councillor Graham Bramley, Executive for the Olympics, said:
"The borough has many outstanding young athletes who we are very proud of. A number of up and coming athletes are world class like Reece, and some will compete at the highest sporting level, the London 2012 Olympics. We are extremely proud of Reece, his determination and dedication paid off as he is the first English athlete to win the European Champion Gold medal and that's a fantastic achievement."
Friday 23 February 2007
Reece Taylor at the European Championships 2007.
Lynn Knowles
Events, Play, Tourism and Olympics
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