MacLeod completes gold medal treble

SOPHIE MacLeod proved she was the golden girl at the ITF British TaeKwon-Do championships in Edinburgh after winning three gold medals at the event — a clean sweep in the categories of sparring, patterns and special technique.

An impressive performance resulted in the Millburn Academy pupil, who is a student at Claire Crosbie’s TaeKwon-Do School in Inverness, take the triple British titles after competing in only her second national competition, adding

to the gold and silver medals she won at the Scottish championships earlier in the year

MacLeod (15) was part of a seven-strong squad from the city club that attended the competition in confident mood, having all been medal winners at the Scottish Open earlier this year.

Daniel Wilby continued his good form in the 10 to 17-year-old sparring category. As the youngest competitor in his section at only 12-years-old, the blue belt fought bravely against his older opponents to win through to the final.

But Wilby, a former British champion and the current Scottish champion, was unable to take the title on this occasion and had to settle for the silver medal position.

The under 10-year-old blue belt sparring categories saw nine-year-olds Finlay Davidson and Dylan Morrison collect silver and bronze medals respectively a bronze, while in the yellow belts Millar Gamble (eight) narrowly missed out on gold in the final at what was only his second championship.

Both Ryan Patience and Paul Wilby also competed at the event, but despite fighting well, they did not bring home a medal on this occasion.