Guyana topped the medals table and are the official champions of the 11th International Shotokhan Karate Federation (ISKF) Pan American Karate Championships which concluded on Sunday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
Guyana ended the two-day championships with a medal haul of 44, of which 18 were gold, 11 were silver and 15 were bronze medals. Forty-two of Guyana’s medals came in the junior category while the other two medals (gold) came from Natalie Gibson in the adult women individual kumite and senior women’s participant Maureen Woon-A-Tai, who won gold in the individual kata.
Guyana’s nearest rival on the podium was Barbados with 21 medals; seven gold, six silver and five bronze medals. They were followed by North American powerhouses USA and Canada respectively.
While Canada have more medals numerically the USA got more silver medals. Both countries secured four gold medals but USA picked up three silver medals while Canada got two and USA won three bronze medals while Canada secured six.
Trinidad & Tobago finished in the fifth position with eight medals (one gold, four silver and 3 bronze medals). Jamaica came in the sixth position with four medals with one gold, one silver and two bronze medals. The only other country to win medals was Antigua which got six with four silver medals and two bronze medals.
Master Frank Woon-A-Tai said that it was a “fantastic” performance by the Guyanese karatekas and he was happy to see the younger athletes strut. However, he called for older persons to start practicing karate.
“The children were amazing as well as Natalie Gibson and I am really impressed with her performance. She was the only female adult participant (from Guyana) and she won the championship and she is now the Pan American champion”, Woon-A-Tai said.
Woon-A-Tai, who is an eighth degree black belt and an executive member of the ISKF, believes that the junior programme is a good one but he also believes that migration to other countries by karatekas is leaving a huge gap in the adult programme.
He said that the void is not being filled and while the juniors are expected to continue performing well there will be a shortage of adult competitors.
He believes that it was a well run tournament and the organising committee should take a bow. He also said that from what he has seen with the organisation of the championships, it will be a good idea to host a world tournament.
