Dyer & Cox To Compete At Wushu Champs
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Krista Dyer and Kaelin Cox will look to continue their impressive form when they compete at the 16th World Wushu Championships in Fort Worth, Texas.
The pair will represent the Bermuda Sanshou Association [BSA] at the championships, hosted by the International Wushu Federation, which runs from Thursday [November 16] to Sunday.
Dyer, who will compete in sanda [Chinese kickboxing] in the women’s 65kg division, won the gold medal in the elite female division at the Fourth Pan American Kungfu Championships in Markham, Ontario, in August.
It will be her third appearance at the championships.
Garon Wilkinson, the BSA president, is travelling with the team along with coaches Cyril Whitter and Che Bean; Dwayne Cox, the father of Kaelin; and Nolette Webb, the team manager.
“Krista has matured so much as a fighter,” Wilkinson told Bernews. “I always saw her as an outstanding athlete, but now I see her coming into her own as a fighter. We know she’s ready to compete at this level.
“The luck of the draw plays a part in these tournaments, but I certainly believe she can win a medal.”
Cox, who will compete in contemporary wushu taolu in the southern openhand forms and southern broadsword, also excelled at the Pan American Kungfu Championships, capturing four medals, winning gold in the men’s over-18 southern openhand, imitation forms and long weapons. He also won bronze in broadsword.
It will be only his second time competing in modern wushu.
“Kaelin’s shifted from traditional kungfu to modern wushu and done really well,” Wilkinson added. “If he can beat half the field, we would be pleased with his effort at this stage of his modern wushu career.”
Cox spent several days training in Canada after the Pan American Kungfu Championships, working with Brazilian Adriano Lourenco da Silva, who spent three months coaching in Bermuda in 2020.
