Rice takes big step forward in World championships
Now nationals beckon in Limerick
Karl Rice from Slane, bravely stepped up to the big stage recently in the sport of taekwondo and acquitted himself very well against some of the world's best performers.
Rice was part of the Irish contingent that took part in the 23rd International Taekwondo Federation World Championships in Poreč, Croatia.
The young Slaneman first represented Ireland in April 2025 at the 39th All European Taekwon-Do Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Having medalled at the Dublin Open he was then selected to step onto the World stage in Croatia.
He was competing in senior 3rd Dan Individual Patterns and also in PreArranged Sparring with club colleague Alison Grealy.
The European experience definitely helped Rice as he was much more relaxed as he took to the mats. He came up against the current World Champion from Malaysia and showed he is meant to be on this stage as there was very little in the scoring between them.
Next up was the Pre-Arranged Sparring where they came up against Sweden. The pairing completed a superb performance but were pipped on a minimal points difference. The Swedishteam went on to finish in third place.
It was a superb week in Croatia, with all of the Irish athletes leaving everything out on the mats.
They arrived back in Dublin Airport with many World Champions, both individually and teams. The senior team finished in first position overall in the medal count (out of 28 countries), with the junior team finishing in second Position (28 countries) and the pre-juniors finishing 11th (25 countries).
Karl trains with Northstar Taekwondo Club in Killester, Dublin, three to four times a week and tops this up with gym sessions.
There is not much time for rest at this time of the year as his next outing will be the Irish Taekwondo Association National Championships in University Limerick on 8th November. This is a qualification tournament for the European Championships in Slovenia, 2026.
As these athletes get NO funding it is up to each individual to raise sponsorship, if they so wish.
Karl would like to thank his sponsors who made both trips this year possible:
Anglo Printers, Drogheda; Tankardstown House, Rathkenny; Euro Farm Foods, Duleek; Physio Performance, Drogheda; Noone Transport & Logistics, Ashbourne; Roadstone, Slane; Lorrac Development, Drogheda; Inside Out Restaurant, Slane; Slane Credit Union; MTM Engineering, Slane; Boyle’s of Slane and The Village Inn, Slane.