A TRIO of West Fife teenagers are celebrating after landing knockout global medals – with one of them reaching the top of the world.

Abbie Fairclough, Sebastian Rae and James Gibson, who are members of the Dunfermline-based Fife Kickboxing and Self Defence Academy (FKSDA), all reached the podium while representing Scotland at the prestigious ICO (International Combat Organisation) World Championships.

But for 14-year-old Abbie, a pupil at Dunfermline High School, she not only collected two medals at the competition, which was held at the Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell, she fought her way to gold in the light contact discipline.

The 'Warriors' team from the academy, who are coached by David Rae, returned with six medals between them, with Abbie leading the way.

She competed in the under-55kg points category for females aged between 13-15 and, after a 15-10 win over Wales' Aimee Morgan, progressed to a semi-final with another Welsh competitor, Georgia Jones.

A 10-7 loss resulted in her battling for a bronze medal with England's Olivia Young, and Abbie came out on top with a 15-6 success.

That set her up for the light contact competition where, after wins over England's Jessica Miles and Germany's Alicia Fee Muzo Schmidt, victory over Morgan once more saw her declared world champion.

Abbie was followed on to the podium by Sebastian, 16, who claimed no less than three silver gongs in the boys' 16-18 years age group, as well as a fourth place in the under-70kg light contact discipline.

In the under-70kg points competition, he saw off England's Flynn Duncan Fewster 20-16 in the last four to set up a final with fellow Scot James Young, who proved too strong to take the title 25-10.

The pair met again for the under-75kg title, with Young once more victorious, and Sebastian claimed his third silver medal of the competition in the under-80kg light contact, finishing second to another Scot, Connor Lynch.

And, not to be left out, 14-year-old James, who attends Queen Anne High School, got in on the act with a podium place of his own, in addition to placing fourth in the boys' 16-18 years under-60kg light contact event.

In the points discipline, he only lost out to England's Liam Johnston, by 15-8, for the title and Craig Reid, lead instructor at the academy, said: "They've done exceptionally well and worked so hard.

"They have an extraordinary work ethic, train a couple of times a week, and for kids at that age, it is exceptional to do that.

"David Rae was appointed fight coach at the start of the year. Although we have competed for a lot of years, at the start of last year, we decided to focus on the development of fighters.

"The team spirit and bond that David has created within the group has shone through."

Another FKSDA member, Harley Eadie, also qualified for the competition but, after sustaining a broken nose in training, was unable to take part.