Two gold medals show chink in World Champs armour

Akino Lindsay and Richard Stone successfully defended their semi-contact (continuous sparring) titles at the International Sports Kickboxing Association Amateur Members Association (ISKA AMA) World Championships in Madrid, Spain, at the weekend.

Lindsay and Stone led a crack team completed by Adrian Moore, Nicholai Reid, and Sharic Bowen, which returned home with eight medals — two gold, four silver, and two bronze — extending the country’s record of excellence since Oshane Murray first won gold in 2012.

Though praising the team, ISKA Jamaica president, Dr Jason McKay, said the decline in gold medals won, seven from last year’s tournament held in Brisbane, Australia, signals that “the world has caught up with us”.

“Eight medals is nothing to scoff at. It was a good performance, but we would be fooling ourselves if we didn’t realise the world has caught up with us in some of the events which we usually dominate,” McKay said after the November 5-8 tournament staged at the Las Olivas Sports Complex in Aranjuez.

“We had very good performances from Lindsay and Stone in continuous fighting. I was a bit disappointed in their performances in points sparring, but overall, eight medals is something any country would be happy with, especially a five-man team.

“However, I am seeing cracks in their armour. The world is studying us. Events we would normally dominate, we are not dominating. The two primary events which we won, we dominated, so we still have the upper hand in the heavyweight continuous divisions,” he added.

Lindsay remains the world’s most decorated ISKA AMA tatami (mat) fighter though failing in his bid for a sixth consecutive World Championship double-gold in semi and light contact sparring in the -90kg division.

Recognised by ISKA in 2024 for what was a world record up to 2023, eight consecutive individual gold medals, to which he added four in two years, double gold that year and 2025, Lindsay moved his ISKA AMA gold-medal tally to 14 overall - 13 individual and one team gold won at home in 2018.

Stone, a medical doctor, has won the -85 kg semi-contact gold at every ISKA AMA World Championships at which he has participated, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Black Belt Men Point Sparring:

- Akino Lindsay (-90kg Light Contact) - Silver

- Richard Stone (85kg semi contact) - Silver

- Sharic Bowen (-65kg) - Silver

- Nicholai Reid (-70kg) - Silver

- Adrian Moore (-80kg) (Captain of the Team) - Bronze

Black Belt Men Continuous Sparring:

- Adrian Moore (-80kg) - Bronze

- Richard Stone -(85kg light contact) - Gold

- Akino Lindsay (-90kg) - Gold

Summary Results:

- 2 Gold

- 4 Silver

- 2 Bronze

Total: 8 medals