Updated at 14.04

IT’S BEEN A good year for less heralded sports in Ireland.

Both Rob Heffernan and Annalise Murphy secured gold medals in walking and sailing respectively, and now 14-year-old Leeanne Royle can boast of similar success.

The Dubliner last week claimed gold in the junior female individual kata event at the Shotokan World Karate Championships in Liverpool’s Echo Arena, becoming the first Irish person to achieve this honour in the process.

“The event we’re talking about is one of the most respected competitions in the world in terms of standard,” her father and coach, David, tells TheScore.ie. “Leeanne has been training a long time for it and she really put in the hours of training. She was training four-to-six sessions per week and sometimes double sessions in one day, so she really worked very hard for it.

“Her preparation was fantastic. She’s been competing really well over the last few years and she’s our national champion, she’s the British champion and she’s now the world champion.

“It’s still in the process of sinking in. The excitement and the feeling — she’s overwhelmed by it. She’s quite a humble person as most good karate people are. She’s quite gentle in her way too, but she’s a ferocious competitor. We’re extremely proud of her and she’s got tremendous support from the local community.”

The win is the culmination of years of hard work for all concerned, and represents further progress for Leeanne following her previous successes on the national stage.

“She’s been training with myself since she was five years old and she just won a lot of titles over the years, but this is certainly the biggest.

“But the club she’s in now — the Corduff Karate club — is affiliated to an organisation called the USKFI [the United Shotokan Karate Federation of Ireland], which was founded by myself and another instructor called Michael Sherlock. We fundraise for our members to go and compete and represent Ireland in these championships. They’re fully funded by our organisation and it’s done on a voluntary basis, which we’re very proud of.”

He adds: “It’s divided into two competitions – the kata and the kumite. The kata is the core of what we do. There are some systematic movements. They are judged on the following criteria — technique, timing, correct form, martial attitude and it’s really about equality of karate that they’re being assessed on. And Leeanne shone and had all the ingredients there, which is why she was crowned world champion.”

Leeanne didn’t stumble upon karate by chance. Her father explains how the sport has been a long-time passion for him personally too.

“I’ve been involved in karate for 32 years now,” he says. “When Leeanne was a young baby, she’d come to our karate club and sit there and watch on the sideline ever since she was four years old. And she’d watch the championships and enjoy them.

“Then she started when she was five and there was a couple of championships she entered…  It’s important for a coach to remind them how positive things can be, and to focus on the task and try to improve your standard of karate. And that’s what I did with her.

“She really stuck with it and after a couple of years, her standard got better. She became highly successful and eventually, did so well and made our squad that ever since then, she’s been in the top medals in the UK. And she’s been in all of the competitions in Britain and she’s had a few years.”

And while karate is not currently an Olympic sport, David is still hopeful that her daughter will some day be able to represent Ireland at the event.

“There was a bid by an organisation, but it was refused. It was probably because karate is not unified worldwide as such. There is talk about re-bidding, but unfortunately, it won’t make the next Olympics.

“It’s everybody’s dream to represent your country in the Olympics. I would suspect that it will come eventually. We do hope that Leeanne will represent Ireland at the Olympics and I believe that she’d do quite well. I’m quite confident she would, actually.”

Moreover, such dreams were fuelled to an even greater extent by another very successful female Irish athlete — Katie Taylor.

“I introduced her to Katie Taylor when she was boxing,” he says. “Even when Katie was starting out, I thought it was fantastic to have a well-known female boxer. Her attitude and skill, her hand speed and power were fantastic.

“I remember saying to Leeanne — ‘you know, one day you and I could be on the world stand actually winning stuff’. In the last Olympics, we started laughing about it, but I hope to feel like that someday.”

And while David was always confident Leeanne had the ability to succeed at the highest level, he could not help but be taken aback by the events of last weekend.

“I suppose the shock is when you see one of your students being presented with a gold medal and the national anthem playing. But we always had great faith — the thing is to always stay positive and focused on the task at hand. When you’re putting in the right work, it’s always going to turn out well.

“There was always that chance you could be beaten but you’ve got to get your basics right and Leeanne did certainly, and being presented with so many awards — you have to start nationally and then try to go and compete in Britain and then compete in Europe and world level. In such a short time and for a child, she’s done particularly well and she’s ahead of the game.”

Leeanne beat athletes from all over the world including the United States, Spain and England, and for all the composure she showed, the youngster admits the pressure of the occasion was palpable.

“It was my first world championship, so it was a bit of a shock,” she says. “I feel like all the training has been worthwhile. I’ve been training so hard throughout the year — it’s good that it hasn’t been for nothing. I’m happy that I’m the first one from Ireland, nobody from here has done it before.”

Following her triumph, she now must focus on less glamorous matters such as schoolwork, though her classmates aren’t likely to let her forget this success too soon.

“My whole school knows now,” she says. “My principal came around to my classroom. He put it on the intercom and all. I didn’t want to make a big deal of it. I’m quite shy, but my friends decided to tell the principal and tell everybody.”

She reiterates her father’s hopes that she will some day be able to compete at the Olympics and speaks of how she derives inspiration from Katie Taylor.

Leeane also pays tribute to the work of her father, describing his presence on the sideline as “comforting,” and when asked what the best thing about being a world champion is, her response is impressively humble.

“Knowing I did the organisation proud — and the support they had gave me and my dad and my family and friends. I guess that’s the best part. Not the winning, but just knowing I did something for them.”