Barney Gill - Road to 2020 Olympics

I've been doing Karate since I was 5 years old. After many years of training and competing, Karate has been included in the 2020 Olympic games and I'm looking to compete at the highest level.

Only 10 competitors in the world per weight division will compete, but the World Karate Federation has reserved one spot (for male and female) for an Oceania competitor over all 8 events. Qualifying will require competing in ranking tournaments all over the world to become not only the highest ranked male in Oceania, but also high enough to warrant selection from the NZ Olympic committee.

Competing in a minor sport, from a small country, means there is unfortunately very little funding available. I am self-funded by working for my parents and taking seminars while I'm in NZ, spending most of the year in Europe training and competing as much as I can. However, this hasn't quite covered the costs, so I started to build a nice little nest-debt. Fortunately, I have very supportive parents, who continually push me to throw everything into it while I can. They've taught me it's better to give it 100% while I'm young, rather than regret what could have been when I'm older.

Over the last few years travelling, I've managed to stick to a region and reduce travelling costs. I save where I can, billeting in return for taking training, catching long distance busses, finding the cheapest AirBnbs and finding a local park or bit of concrete to train on. However, now I need to travel further and more often to compete in ranking tournaments, so fundraising has become a must.

I've been gaining more success travelling overseas, winning competitions in Slovakia, Poland, Austria and Italy over the last couple of years, along with winning Bronze at the World University Championships in Portugal. This year I won the Oceania Championships and will be competing in Switzerland, Hungary, Germany, Chile, Tokyo, Poland, Spain, Czech Republic and China throughout the rest of 2018. You can follow my story on Facebook or Instagram at Barney Gill Karate.

Also, the biggest of thank you's to Propella Software for their advice, support and very generous offer to match funds raised by this page dollar for dollar!

I believe having a New Zealander representing karate at the Olympics will do great things for the sport here. I'm prepared to do what it takes to qualify, and any contribution will be greatly appreciated so I can achieve that.