Two Cariboo martial artists brought home medals from the WKU World Karate and Kickboxing Championships in Rhodes, Greece.
Katharina Koppe and Sheldon Lainchbury both competed in the international competition which took place at the end of October.
Koppe won both executive women's divisions she competed in, point fighting and light contact continuous. This is Koppe's second time bringing home a championship title. Koppe competed all four days of the tournament and also helped referee the light contact division.
Lainchbury competed in three executive men's under-85 kg divisions: point fighting, light contact continuous, and kick light continuous.
He earned a silver in light contact continuous fighting, narrowly missing the gold by a split decision and came home with a bronze in kick light continuous. Lainchbury had a close fight in point fighting but said he had to change his game plan at the last minute due to a leg injury sustained during warm up.
He was also one of two Canadian National Team coaches. Lainchbury fought three days in a row and when not in the ring himself, he was coaching other Team Canada athletes including Koppe.
Lee-Ann Lainchbury and Glen Rogers of Shogun Martial Arts also travelled to the competition. The pair also coached and reffed after Koppe and Sheldon Lainchbury were done competing.
Overall, Team Canada came eighth in medal count out of 23 countries. Next year's event will be held in Trier, Germany.
