Carla Vonnida went to the Arnold Classic on the weekend with modest expectations and several niggling injuries but still came away with the gold medal in the under 16s kyokushin karate.
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It was a calf injury hindering her in the lead-up to the multi-sport festival but it was her shoulder and ankle that played up during her fights.
However, with all her focus on the fight at hand, the injuries – and all the resulting pain and aches – were forced straight to the back of her mind.
“You don’t really realise, you don’t feel it at all,” Carla said.
“Until after the fight, then you start realising you've got bruises but you don’t realise when you're fighting.”
Even straight after the fight, the pain took a back seat.
“[I was] so happy, it was crazy...the adrenaline after it, it was great,” Carla said.
“Two or three minutes after it, I started to feel it [soreness], after I’d realised I’d won.”
Carla didn’t go on the adventure alone.
The 14-year-old’s coaches, Sensei John Rule and Sempai Hollie Rule, rode the rollercoaster with her.
And the pair found it tough watching, especially after Carla was hit with three “dubious” shots.
“It was all very emotional for us,” John said.
“Because of the injuries we knew she went into that final with and a couple of decisions with those three serious punches to the jaw … it could have went to a disqualification.
“I know referees don’t like doing that in a final...I understand that but any other girl who got that third one that dropped her, they would have been in a heap on the ground.”
Hollie found it equally hard to watch the two fights.
“It’s hard enough to fight as a competitor when I did, but then when you become the coach the feeling changes,” Hollie said.
“It’s almost like you're more nervous.
“You're just worried about them as well, without telling them that.”
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