害羞草研究所

Skip to content

Blind Kelowna athlete wins grappling gold

Michelle Jorgensen takes her division at her first ever tournament in Kamloops
11495145_web1_180420_KCN_Jorg
Michelle Jorgensen, a legally blind athlete, is a Jiu-Jitsu gold medalist. -Image: Contributed

Unlike her competitors, Michelle Jorgensen can害羞草研究所檛 rely on eye sight once she steps into the ring.

Diagnosed as legally blind, the 24-year-old from Kelowna rose above all obstacles by winning a gold medal this month at the first ever .

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a grappling-based martial art where wins are earned by submission holds or points.

On April 7 in Kamloops, Jorgensen, in her first ever tournament appearance, won all three matches in dominant fashion to bring home gold to her team in Kelowna.

A full-time student studying psychology at UBC Okanagan, Michelle walked into the Alliance Jiu-Jitsu Academy just 12 months ago to attend a women害羞草研究所檚 only self-defense seminar, taught by Alliance owner and head instructor Sean McHugh.

Michelle was born with a rare eye disease called PFV or Persistent Fetal Vasculature.

害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檓 happy to do my best to help anyone who wants to learn,害羞草研究所 said instuctor Sean McHugh. 害羞草研究所淢ichelle can see just enough to get the techniques of the day and we害羞草研究所檒l of course we help with the details.害羞草研究所

After the seminar, she eagerly joined up and began spending all her free time at club, not just doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but Muay-Thai Kickboxing as well.

Excited to start her new journey, Jorgensen also quit smoking that week and has been smoke free for a year.

Michelle credits a lot of her success to her coaches Sean McHugh, Cody Earp, Kristian Fraser and her team at Alliance Jiu-Jitsu.

害羞草研究所淢ichelle is a workhorse and deserves to be recognized for the hard work she puts in, 害羞草研究所 added McHugh. 害羞草研究所淪he害羞草研究所檚 a full-time student, volunteers at a variety of charities and still attends more practises consistently per week than anyone else. Michelle with her outgoing personality brings big energy to the club and is already planning on competing in June in Richmond.害羞草研究所

To report a typo, email: edit@kelownacapnews.com.

<>


newstips@kelownacapnews.com

Like us on and follow us on .



About the Author: Black Press Media Staff

Read more



(or

害羞草研究所

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }