ON Saturday 15 July Ilkley Grammar student, James Smith competed at the World Taekwondo Championships held at the Coventry SkyDome.
With over 20 countries including Australia, Canada, Argentina and USA competing, Smith and his England colleagues had a tough day in store, but they rose to the occasion expertly.
The thirteen-year-old and England's No. 1 competed in the under 14-year-olds up to 168cm height division.
In the tag-team sparing event, Smith and his two England teammates battled through to win Bronze for England.
Bettering that achievement, in the individual sparing event the Ilkley youngster competed against competitors from Poland, Ireland, England and Switzerland.
He was able to use his previous competition experience, training and determination to defeat his opponents and win the Gold to become a World Champion.
It rounded off a successful six months for Smith and his teammates after he collected a bronze and gold at individual and team level respectively at the British Taekwondo Championships in December.
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