In his first competition, Yellowknife kickboxer travels to hometown in India and returns with gold

After a quick visit to his hometown in southern India, Gopi Rajkumar has returned to Yellowknife with a gold medal in kickboxing. 

After flying to a different continent — approximately 11,500 kilometres as the crow flies — the 38-year-old stayed for around a week before travelling that distance all over again. But he was there long enough to win the Tamil Nadu World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO) Championship for the under 75 kilogram low kick amateur category. 

The championship happened on May 21 to 22 in his hometown of Chennai, a city in the province of Tamil Nadu. 

In his first ever sanctioned fight, he said he faced a competitor who had a lot of experience in the sport. But Rajkumar won handily and followed it up by winning his second fight, earning him the gold medal.

Despite his lack of experience in kickboxing, he credits his upbringing for preparing him both mentally and physically. 

"We had to fight through a lot of challenges in India," he said. 

There's one person who he credits for that toughness he brings into the ring, his mother Revathi Rajkumar. 

His father passed away when he was young, leaving Revathi to raise three kids on her own, Rajkumar said his mother  faced a lot of obstacles, but overcame them to provide for her children. 

"For the first six years, she didn't have any proper employment," he said. 

"So it was a very hard time. I'm here because of my mother." 

Rajkumar is a parent himself, his wife and one-and-a-half-year-old son are currently in India but he's hoping they will join him this summer. 

Rajkumar said he came to Canada for job opportunities and the ability to support his mother, which is what he is doing now, working with the Workers' Safety and Compensation