At just 14 years old, Dyer earned a silver medal in her first competition on the world stage.
Turning 14 just days before her international flight, Plant City’s Jordan Dyer traveled to Romania in September and represented Chris Welbon Karate and the United States at the ninth WUKF World Karate Championships.
With 39 countries represented, Dyer was part of a 41-person team for the United States that finished second in total medal count with 27, trailing only Ukraine.
Dyer participated in six events, including two kata, two weapons and two fighting events where she brought home a silver medal in kobudo nunchaku short weapons for the female 14-17 year old division.
“The next goal is to try and get my second degree black belt and my overall goal is to keep doing world tournaments and eventually be the best of the best,” said Dyer.
Earlier in the year, Dyer traveled to Greenville, South Carolina for the AAU Karate Nationals tournament before earning three silver and one bronze medal in four events at the AAU Junior Olympics in Houston, Texas.
Dyer began training in kindergarten before advancing and eventually earning her black belt two years ago. And despite her success on the national stage, this was Dyer’s first competition at the world level. A competition that she hopes to be just the first of many.
“The next time I’ll know what to expect more so I’ll be able to prepare more,” said Dyer. “My experience over there wasn’t too bad because you learn throughout the years how to fight and how to do everything, it’s just certain parts of it that make you nervous. You have to learn how to adapt. So having been through that experience now, the nerves start to lessen and it begins to become natural and fun for you.”
Dyer’s next tournament will come in January as Chris Welbon Karate kicks off their local AAU tournament season for the 2022 calendar year.
“It’s amazing,” said Welbon. “I didn’t have that opportunity when I was a junior athlete, so to see these kids have this opportunity when they’re young, it’s only going to give them the opportunity to keep training and become better as an adult competitor. I’m very proud of her, especially since she’s had so much to overcome. Seeing her out there, the camaraderie, it just lights a fire under you to represent the United States and go to these huge events.”
