After previously participating in the US Team Trials and Golden State Championship, students of the Hong Wu Golden Dragon (HWGD) team from Carmel Valley qualified to represent the United States in the 14th Pan American Wushu Championships, held Aug. 29-Sept. 2 in Santa Clara, with hundreds of participants from six major countries — including USA, Brazil, and Canada. Even with such intense competition, the HWGD emerged victorious, a product of months of hard work and training.
Since the US Team Trials and Golden State Championship in May 2024, these young athletes have been training diligently and dedicating 10-plus hours per week to prepare themselves for the fierce tournament ahead. Relentless hours of effort paid off four months later at the 2024 Pan American Wushu Championships when the youth achieved multiple medals and placed top three throughout various categories of martial arts.
Siblings Kate and Audrey Zhao obtained the full medal spectrum: Kate won a gold for her Traditional Long Fist, and silver in the Taichi category, as Audrey placed third for her Staff, earning herself bronze. Likewise, the two sisters Addison Lam and Kiera Lam obtained a total of four medals, with both girls each receiving a silver and bronze medal. Their comrade Alice Wang secured silver in Traditional Northern Style Long Weapons, while Alice Zhu earned a bronze medal in Traditional Short Weapons. Young elementary student Alexander Guest won bronze in his first continental wushu competition. Finally, high schooler Chloe Zhai sured all and prevailed with a total of three gold medals and one silver in the Taichi category.
For some of these students, this was the second Pan American Wushu Championship that they had participated in, but there is potential to attend further Pan-Am competitions in the years to come. As such, the Hong Wu Golden Dragon Team has already begun training and priming themselves for their next Wushu tournament. –Report by Kate Zhao, a martial arts competitor
