s t r o Sp
After spending 2020 training three hours a day, seven days a week and getting private Zoom trainings, they felt they could make Team USA. The girls skipped three divisions and entered the elite category in 2021. Lottie, now 12 years old, entered the elite division and swept the tournament. She won the 2021 National Championships and Team Trials without giving up a single point. Sophia, now 15, only gave up one point and both sisters secured spots on Team USA.
LOTTI SINGLETON AT MONTANA KARATE ACADEMY | PHOTO ADP STUDIO
Olympic Dreams
for Nationally Ranked Karate Champ and Bozeman Local In the sport of karate, the road to the Olympics is narrow and long, with less than .2% of athletes achieving that dream. Held every four years, the Youth Olympic Games in combat sports for ages 17 to 19 will next take place in Dakar, Africa in 2026. To make Team USA, you must win USA Team Trials; to be an elite athlete, you must also have the top world ranking based on international tournaments in your country. They say less than 1% of athletes make Team USA, and less than 1% of that group will make the Olympic team. So, it’s a narrow road for sure. When Charlotte a.k.a. (Lottie) and Sophia Singleton were just 8 and 10 years old they had the crazy idea that they could make the Olympic Team in a sport that did not have much of a presence in Montana. Karate. The girls began by watching and studying training on YouTube and other online platforms. By ages 9 and 11, Lottie and Sophia were competing around the country. With no coach, no gym and no formal training, the two sisters began winning almost every tournament they entered. Lottie was named Sports Illustrated athlete of the month at age 10 after completing a 62-2 season and winning the 2019 national champion title. Sophia, age 12, also won her division and finished a national champion.
Sensei Driss El Mannani with the Singleton family athletes, from youngest to oldest Louisa (8), Georgiana (10), Charlotte (12), Sophia (15) and Vivian (17)
Lottie has been ranked number one in the U.S. for two years in a row and proven herself on several international stages as one of the best in the world. She has been selected as the number one prospect in the USA female category for the 2026 Olympics in Dakar, Africa. She now finds herself in a position that is unbelievable to most. With three-and-a-half years to build and prepare, Lottie also has four tournaments a year she must compete in to keep her world ranking: Mexico, Cyprus, Croatia and Italy. She also has to have the best coaches and trainers in the country. There are five sisters in the Singleton family training in karate and four of them are national champions. With a family dedicated to the sport of karate, the Singletons decided to open Montana Karate Academy, the first mini-Olympic gym in the state specifically designed for karate athletes. Montana Karate Academy is led by two of the best instructors in the world: Elisa Au, three-time world champion and the best karate athlete to ever compete in the USA, and her partner Driss El Mannani from Morocco. Driss is a world-level coach with more than 30 world medals under his belt as a coach. Montana Karate Academy offers lessons and training for youth and athletes ages four and up; and Lottie and Sophia finally have coaches and a gym in town. The girls are currently training for the U.S. Open in Vegas and an international tournament in Cyprus, on May 1. Every 8-year-old girl can dream and set goals. Better yet, nothing is impossible if you have Montana grit.
Sophia and Charlotte Singleton are sisters and teammates on the USA National Karate Team :: calendars, blog & more @ MTPARENT.COM ::
april 2022
25
