A 15-year-old has been chosen to represent Great Britain in the upcoming kickboxing world championships in Hungary.
Skye Thomas, from Ammanford, will compete in the WAKO Kickboxing World Championships in Budapest from August 24 to September 1.
The teenager attends Ysgol Dyffyn Aman and is the first pupil ever to be chosen to compete for Great Britain.
Skye previously represented Wales in the WKU World Championships. (Image: Kimberley Thomas) Skye’s mother, Kimberley Thomas said: “I’m extremely proud. I always had faith in her. It was her dream to compete for Great Britain. She thrives in competition and excels in everything she does, including her school education.
“She’s such a good kid. She never brings trouble and I never had to tell her to do anything. Skye broke down and started crying when she found out she made the team because only two girls get selected per weight category.
“She has fought across the country, and she enters a lot of competitions. And only recently she finished her last GCSE exam.”
Skye will compete in the -65kg Points Fighting and 65kg Light Contact Fighting categories.
The Ysgol Dyffyn Aman PE department also congratulated Skye on Twitter, posting: “Huge congratulations to Skye Thomas – Year 10, on being selected for the Great Britain kickboxing team to take part in the WAKO World Championships in Budapest this summer. Outstanding achievement Skye.”
Before getting picked for Team GB, Skye was training at WCKA Ammanford, representing Wales in the October 2022 WKU World Championships and the February 2023 British National Championships.
To fulfil her dream Skye changed clubs in July 2023 to WKO Llanelli where she is trained by Leigh Randall and Tennessee Randall.
Skye now trains six times a week which sometimes includes back-to-back sessions such as sparring and strength & conditioning.
She first began kickboxing when she was seven years old after becoming friends with a girl she met on holiday in Turkey.
Growing up, Skye wasn’t a girly girl who was interested in activities like dancing, but she soon became passionate about kickboxing.
Despite kickboxing being an Olympic-recognised sport, competition is self-funded by athletes who rely on sponsorships and donations.
Welsh Robes – The Brand born in Wales, is Skye’s primary sponsor, yet the teenager is open to working with local Carmarthenshire businesses to help fund her competitions.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here