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Student National Karate Champion limbers up for European tournament in Spain

Thursday 14 May 2009

A University of East London (UEL) student who is currently the national karate champion is training and studying hard to compete in the fourth European Universities Karate Championship in July in Cordoba, Spain and finish her dissertation for her final year at UEL.

Amy Thomason, 20, lives in halls of residence at UEL’s Docklands campus and is studying a BA (Hons) in Media and Creative Industries. She represents England in karate and is also a member of the Great Britain University Team representing UEL.

Amy, a Commonwealth karate champion in 2006, also successfully won gold in March this year at the British University Championships. The victory meant she was automatically selected for the European Universities Karate Championships in Spain.

Amy said: “It’s a really hectic time for me at the moment as I’m training hard and finishing my degree so I’m really looking forward to taking part in the European Championships afterwards. After that, the sky is the limit competition-wise and whatever happens, it’s all great preparation for my goal of becoming a sports writer!”

Taking up karate at 7-years old in New Zealand, Amy already started competing three years later. She was a member of the highly successful Kei Shin Kan Karate club in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. In London, she joined Gendai-ryu Karate under world champion Molly Samuel-Leport, then Kaizen Central karate under William Thomas, another world champion.

Olive Stubbs, Programme Leader for Media & Creative Industries said: “Amy is a true champion and a talented student who has worked incredibly hard in training for her competitions and finishing all her course work on time. I’m delighted that she is the national champion and I wish her every success for the future.”

Ends

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The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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