For the next three months Justin Karn will be thinking of nothing but London.
The black belt judoist has his sights set on the podium for the 2012 Paralympics in London, England in August.
“The goal is to do my best; give it everything I have in me,” said Karn, adding he is aiming for the gold medal.
Karn, 30, was born in Guelph and grew up in Fergus. He now lives in Kitchener, where he is a coach and trainer at the Asahi Judo Club. He found out last month his dream of competing at the Paralympics will become a reality.
“It was pretty amazing when I found out,” Karn told the Advertiser. “Obviously, that was the goal all along.”
The visually impaired athlete was born with a condition that makes it difficult to perceive depth. But that certainly hasn’t stopped him from competing in Sports.
An avid swimmer, he tried to reach the Paralympics by way of the pool, but eventually judo presented a more direct path to the games.
“It was thought I’d go farther in judo,” said Karn.
He has competed in the sport for the better part of two decades, but internationally only since 2000.
He narrowly missed the 2008 Paralympics and won the bronze medal at the Para Pan American Games in Guadalajara last fall. In 2010, he was named the Pan American champion.
Karn, now ranked 12th in the world in the 60-kilogram division, will have several smaller competitions to prepare for the Paralympics.
“I’ll be tuning up for London and making some adjustments to my game plan,” he said.
Also representing Fergus at the Paralympics, which run Aug. 29 to Sept. 9, will be wheelchair basketball star Patrick Anderson.
The Advertiser hopes to run a feature story on Karn and Anderson leading up to the London games.
