Athletes from Crowborough have celebrated golden medal success at the Taekwon-Do European Championships.
Vision Taekwon-Do based at VMA Fitness in Crowborough had seven of its black belt athletes selected to represent England for the championships in Maribor, Slovenia in April.
And the Crowborough based athletes came away with no fewer than three Golds, two Silvers and two Bronzes to record one of the most successful outings in its 30 years.
Ellena Lobley won Gold in the Adult Female 3rd Degree Pattern (technical event), beating 19 of the best in Europe to take the title.
Gabrielle Lear won Silver in the Pre-Jnr Female 1st Degree Pattern and then Gold in -52kgs Sparring, she also won Gold in Pre-Jnr Pre-Arranged Sparring (technical event) where two athletes from the same team choreograph their own sequence against each other that has to last over 60 seconds.
Gabrielle also won the overall trophy for Pre-Jnr Females having won the most medals in the age range in Europe.
Chloe Charteris in her first international competition representing England won a Silver in Junior Female Power Test (Board breaking) and was part of the team with Ruby King and Eloise Jenkins who all smashed boards to win the Gold in Team Power Test.
Ruby King won a Bronze medal in Jnr Female -57kgs Sparring as well as a Bronze with Eloise Jenkins and Chloe Charteris in Team Pattern (Choreographed technical sequence with 5 athletes).
Dexter Williams and Ryan Hosking-Potton did not medal this time around, but put in strong performances to work on and improve on for the rest of the international season.
Coach Master Philip Lear said: “I am extremely proud of each individual from Crowborough, the athletes have worked so hard in the lead up to the Euros from the additional training sessions we have had to the track work at Goldsmiths as well as the time they work on at the gym.
“We have a few international events coming up and training camps then we start to prepare for the Taekwon-Do World Cup that takes place in Benidorm in September. We have a large contingent taking part that includes colour belts and black belts and the focus is now on getting sponsors to help the event become a reality for them”.
Vision Taekwon-Do is celebrating 30 years since starting in Crowborough in 1996. There will be a party in May bringing students past and present together to celebrate what Taekwon-Do has brought to the community throughout that time.