Brazil topped the medal table of the 2018 Pan American Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships being held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The local karatekas dominated the competition and finished the tournament with a tally of 36 medals. Venezuela with 22 medals and the USA with 25 awards also completed a successful performance at the event. 

Brazil topped the medal table of the 2018 Pan American Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships being held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The local karatekas dominated the competition and finished the tournament with a tally of 36 medals. Venezuela with 22 medals and the USA with 25 awards also completed a successful performance at the event. 

Nearly 800 competitors from 21 countries gathered at the 29th edition of the PKF underage Championships. As Karate is ready to make its Olympic debut at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, the future stars of Pan American Karate showcased their great level on that tatamis in Rio de Janeiro. 

Marco Dos Anjos was one of the local heroes taking the Brazilian flag to the top of the podium. The promising karateka took gold in the U21 Male Kumite -75kg category and headed the quest to glory of the representatives of the host country, as the young athlete also led Brazil to win the U21 Male Team Kumite competition. The Brazilian side also prevailed in Female Team Kata, while the athletes of the organising nation dominated the Junior categories with seven out of the 12 medals at stake. One gold medal in U14 category and another one in Cadet completed the list of top awards for Brazil. 

The competition was also determined by the efficiency of youngsters from Venezuela and the USA. Claudymar Garces Sequera and Valerya Hernandez Moyeda spearheaded Venezuela’s success in Rio de Janeiro with the crowns of U21 Female Kumite -61kg and U21 Female Kata respectively as the Venezuelan delegation also claimed four titles in Junior and in Cadet categories. 

Meanwhile, Cirrus Lingl was one of the front-runners of the USA’s medal-packed performance at the event. The young karateka got the title in U21 Female Kumite +68kg, and the delegation of the North American nation also took two golds in U14 competition, two top awards in Cadet and the title in Cadet and Junior Female Team Kata. 

The tournament finished on Sunday as the event now heads to Ecuador where the 2019 edition of the PKF Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships will take place.