Taekwon-do instructor Shane Fitzgibbon and his student Shane Rabbitte returned from Croatia last week where they had competed in the ITF European Taekwon-do Championship. This, the second European championship for the pair, was a triumphant week as they returned home with three medals between them.
Shane Rabbitte took bronze in the junior -63kg sparring division after making it through to the semi-finals following some tough bouts. Fitzgibbon, after taking bronze in the fifth dan patterns division, decided to enter sparring despite suffering an abdominal muscle injury three weeks prior to the competition. This injury, which restricted his training in the run-up to the championship, meant Fitzgibbon narrowly missed making the weight for his normal -80kg division. He moved up to +80kg where the average weight was over 90kg. He won three pulsating bouts against his far bigger opponents but had to settle for silver in the end as he lost by a narrow margin against his Dutch opponent in the final.
Fitzgibbon’s classes take place all over Galway city and county. For more information see www.connacht-taekwondo.com or phone (087 ) 2070577.
