Trinity Allen, Tom Scott Win Medals At Karate World Championships
by Karen Price
Tom Scott poses for a portrait during the Team USA Tokyo 2020 Olympics shoot on Nov. 20, 2019 in West Hollywood, Calif.
The United States won its only medal in karate at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in kata, but it now has two kumite athletes with world championship medals.
Up-and-comer Trinity Allen won silver in the women’s 55 kg. division and Olympian Tom Scott took bronze in the men’s 75 kg. division at the 2021 World Karate Championships in Dubai. The two medals are the first ones for U.S. athletes at the world championships since 2016 and the most won since 2012.
Allen flew through her pool, keeping her first two opponents scoreless before an athlete from Colombia was finally able to get a point on her. Still, Allen won that bout, 5-1, before prevailing in a close one against Olympic gold medalist Ivet Goranova of Bulgaria, 5-4.
After dispatching the Olympic champion, Allen faced fellow pool winner Jennifer Warling of Luxembourg to advance to the title bout against Ahlam Youssef of Egypt where she lost, 8-0.
After dispatching the Olympic champion, Allen knocked off fellow pool winner Jennifer Warling of Luxembourg to advance to the title bout against Ahlam Youssef of Egypt. But due to a dislocated elbow she sustained from a foul by Warling, Allen was forced to withdraw from the gold-medal bout. The title went to Youssef by the default 8-0 score.
Scott, 31, is a 15-time national champion and a six-time Pan American Champion. He teaches and manages a karate school in Plano, Texas, and is Team USA’s most decorated karate athlete. In Dubai he won his pool then lost to Dastonbek Otabolaev of Uzbekistan, 1-0, and was pulled back into the repechage. He defeated Eren Akkurt of Turkey 5-2 for the bronze medal.
Karate made its Olympic debut this summer, and Ariel Torres won bronze for Team USA in men’s kata. The sport will not be contested in Paris in 2024.