Tallaght’s Jodie Browne made history this week when she stormed to victory at the World Combat Games in Saudi Arabia, becoming the first kickboxer to concurrently hold that title alongside both the European and World Championship accolades.
She picked up her latest gold medal when she overcame a South African athlete in the first round, before beating the European Olympic Champion from Italy in the semi final to set her up with a shot at the overall prize.
The Tallaght Martial Arts fighter was matched against Mexico’s Sanchez Trejo in the final, who’s the present Pan American Champion, and eventually emerged as the winner, backed by her coach Dave Heffernan.
“She had to work hard for this one” he said, reflecting on the triumph.
Irish Kickboxer Jodie Browne ✍️ herself into the history books 📖 winning World Combat Games 🥇
Jodie now holds the European, World and World Combat Games gold medals ☘️🥇a feat that’s never been done before, until now ⬇️
Read 🗞️ | https://t.co/Dt2uC1kwyX#TeamIreland pic.twitter.com/bKOtwdm5YI— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) November 2, 2023
Having surpassed this hurdle, Jodie Browne, the Maynooth University student now prepares for the WAKO World Championships in Portugal at the end of the month.
Chief instructor at Tallaght Martial Arts, Martin Bannon, believes the sky's the limit for the Old bawn Community school past pupil, who is reaching new heights year on year.
“We are very proud of her here in Tallaght Martial Arts” he says.
“The sport is only a small part of what we do here. Developing strong, confident young people is very important to us, giving them the weapons to take on life as well as have fun and compete all over the world if that is what they choose.”
