Bishop’s Stortford College Sixth Form student wins bronze at World Union of Karate-Do Federations European Championships.
Bishop’s Stortford College Upper Sixth (Year 13) student, Will Butcher, is a Kumite bronze medallist having competed at the World Union of Karate-Do Federations (WUKF) 14th European Karate and Kobudo Championships.
Held in Warsaw, Poland from 9-13 October 2024, the championships saw thousands of participants, athletes, and spectators from all over Europe gather for the event.
Will, who started karate aged seven and achieved his 1st dan black belt in 2021, trains several times a week under Sensei Shauna Carroll as part of the United Karate Association (UKA) and has represented England at three previous WUKF World Championships, medalling twice. This year he represented England in the 16-17 Kumite category, and competed in four different groups throughout the competition: individual weighted, individual open weight, and two team events.
Over two days of competing, Will fought in a total of 10 matches with each individual match lasting 2 minutes 30 seconds, and team ones reaching 5 minutes. In the individual weighted competition, Will took on 35 other competitors to win the bronze medal.
Speaking of his achievement, Will commented, “I was extremely happy when I realised I’d won the bronze medal. Having put in so much work for a long period of time as well as having to make weight, and to perform as well as I did, I was very proud of myself. I want to give all the credit to my Sensei, Shauna Carroll; she is a fantastic coach and teacher, and has taught me since I joined the College in Form One (Year 5).”
Looking ahead, Will hopes to attend more competitions in Romania and Ireland over the coming months, but his focus will now be studying for his A Levels whilst continuing to train for exercise and wellbeing.
The College would like to extend their congratulations to Will on his outstanding achievement and wish him all the best in future competitions.
Categories: Bishop's Stortford College School News
