Veras Academy youngster strikes gold at USA Open
Camden’s Lulu Brown hit the jackpot with a gold medal at the USA Open Karate Championships in Las Vegas.
Brown travelled with Luca, Liam and Luan Veras, with whom she trains at the Veras Academy’s Islington dojo, to compete alongisde 2,400 others from 42 countries at the Paris Hotel & Casino.
World champions and medalists from all over the globe were also taking part, and Brown, who started karate with sensei Raphael Veras at the Toriano School’s after-school club and continued her training after going to secondary school, came out on top in the 12/13-year-old girls’ open weight intermediate category.
Clubmate Luan Veras won gold in the under-45kg advanced competition, while Luca Veras was champion in the eight to nine-year-old group and Liam Veras took bronze at 10/11-year-old level.
And head instructor Raphael Veras said: “Karate and MMA is a big part of family life. We live it every day.
“Karate will be in the 2020 Olympic Games, so I am working hard to get athletes in the right direction to represent Great Britain.”
To find out more about the Veras Academy in Islington, see their facebook or instagram page.
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