Pair of karate golds in consecutive weeks for Carluke's Emma Ruthven

Emma won the Senior Female Kata crowns at last weekend’s Karate Grand Prix in Motherwell, seven days after similar success at the North East Open in Sunderland.

“Emma is totally focused,” her proud dad Andrew told the Carluke and Lanark Gazette.

“The commitment to karate and the training she puts in are fantastic.

“Watching her training is phenomenal to see.

“Every day, if she is not doing karate training then she’s at the gym doing strength and conditioning work which is very important when she’s so young.

“She has been brilliant at both competitions over the last two weekends.

“Hopefully she will peak at even bigger competitions over the next two weeks.”

Those two events are this weekend’s Irish International Open in Dublin and the British Open in Motherwell.

Both competitions are a forerunner to Emma’s participation in this month’s World Youth League in Mexico and October’s Junior World Championships in Chile.

Emma, a sixth year pupil at Carluke High School, hopes to start a Psychology and Sports Studies course at Strathclyde University next year.

But just now she remains dedicated to karate, for which she is a member of Renfrew-based club Shitokai Scotland.