Saanich’s Olivia Brodie won bronze in the 2018 Junior Pan-American Karate Championships in Rio, Brazil.
Brodie, a Cedar Hill middle school student who trains out of Varsity Performance Karate in Saanich (run by sensei Kraig Devlin, a Saanich firefighter), earned bronze in the U14 kata (forms) division with four wins in five matches.
At opening ceremonies Brodie was bestowed the honor of co-carrying the Canadian flag with fellow teammate Oonah Gamboa from Vancouver. Gamboa won gold in the U14 kata division putting two Canadian athletes on the podium in the division.
Canada placed sixth overall with three gold, four silver and eight bronze medals.
Brodie first defeated a Brazilian competitor (three flags to two) in the first round and USA (4-1 flags) in the second round, eventually losing (4 flags to 1) against Columbia in the semifinal round. Brodie moved into the repechage rounds where she defeated Mexico 4-1 to clinch the bronze medal.
Seventy-seven Canadian athletes, five coaches and two staff attended the three-day event for 12 to 20 years olds.
