Port Macquarie is home to a karate world champion with Sascha Arnberger winning a gold medal at the World Allstyles Championships in Portugal.
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The 14-year-old martial arts star brought home the gold in the under 15s Kumite sparring 54kg division during the tournament involving over 6,000 competitors in Caldas Da Rainha.
The Camden Haven High School year nine student knocked out the previous two time reigning champion from Mexico in the semifinal before beating her final rival from America.
She also scored a bronze in classical forms, Kata at the tournament.
"It was exciting because it was a bit new to go overseas, but overall good and made some friends," said Sascha.
"I stuck with the basics like punching and working on my speed technique while I was away.
"There was a lot of different styles and I had to adapt."
The young black belt has previously competed at the Oceania titles in New Zealand claiming a top eight finish in her division.
She has competed at top level World Karate Federation tournaments, collected wins in the under-13 point sparring championship in Japan and also attended the Australian Martial Arts Championships.
Trainer at Kumiai Ryu Port Macquarie Dojo, Hanshi Kevin Blundell, said she has trained with the dojo for six years.
"Her athletic ability is great and is certainly one of the rarities that come through," he said.
"There are three aspects to her success. She is well supported by her parents in going the extra mile for training, is gifted athletically but also determined to undertake extra training.
"That's not bad for a fourteen year old."
KRPMD Shihan, Nathan lynch said the sky is the limit for martial arts development.
"The best thing about her training is that she's self determined and does the training well before the competition," he said.
"I think it's her consistency in competition that helps her excel.
"The sky's the limit of where she wants to go.
"Maybe the Olympics for 2024, I would aim for that with karate."
When not focusing on her martial arts the keen footballer plays AFL and has previously been selected in the AFL North Coast Youth Leadership Accelerator Program.
"I've been playing AFL for Kempsey but I train with the Magpies," said Ms Arnberger.
"I'm doing Muay Thai here as well, that keeps my fitness up.
"Karate is a bit more technical like self defence, Muay Thai is a little bit more like fighting."
Ms Arnberger said she is aiming for an appearance at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
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