FACTOR 10 Martial Arts members have returned from the Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships bathed in bronze.
Strathpine-based Maddy Houston, Shelby Smith, Dalton Calvert and Jordan Cushing each earned a third place in Scotland, delighting coach Damien O’Flaherty, who was the Australian poomsae coach for the event.
He said the performances against top athletes from 60 countries was a reward for persistence and practice.
“It was a very positive result and in particular they all performed at their personal best,” O’Flaherty said.
“This one was by far the highest standard of competition they’ve seen.
“It was extremely well run. You can’t develop unless you’ve got quality coaching, quality officiating and a quality event.
“We know the scores of our athletes were true international scores and we can use that.”
O’Flaherty said it was great to see the Queensland women’s team, featuring Houston and Smith, win a medal for the first time with bronze. Houston backed that up with two golds at the national titles last weekend.
Cushing was beaten by the eventual gold medallist in Scotland.
While Calvert made a solid international debut, even continuing to compete despite suffering a hamstring injury.
“At this level injuries are all part of it, and just to get up and continue to compete was a great thing to see,” O’Flaherty said.
Factor 10 Martial Arts takes a break before light training in January ahead of the first competition of the year in late February.
As printed in the Pine Rivers Press, 11 Dec 2014.
