Karen Dolphin from Galway will make history for her sport tomorrow as Ireland’s first and only entry in Karate in this year’s first ever European Olympics to be held in Baku.
Karen, whose discipline is Kata, is trained by her mother Marie, who is a National Karate Kata coach.
The talented 32-year-old is now preparing hard for the Games this summer and we caught up with her to see how it all began.
“I’ve been doing karate now for about 26 years,” Karen, who works as a pharmacist and is part of Kiltormer club of Itosu-Kai Karate Ireland, revealed.
“I got my first gold in the Under 8 category, and I enjoyed a good few successes over the years.
“I started to compete seriously on the international circuit about seven years ago and down through the years, I have won the Irish National Championships numerous times, I won the British International Open in 2014 and silver in the same event in 2013.”
OCI’s Stephen Martin said “Karen and her coach/mum Marie have been very professional about how they have approached these games.The multi sport aspect of Team Ireland here in Baku has added positively to their experiences to date. Its a tough competition but Karen is very much looking forward to it”.
Karate competition details here:
