Young Sports Stars of the Year Award winner No. 8: Shauna Mullaney

The next to feature in our look at the Young Sports Stars of the Year Award 2018 winners is Olympics hopeful Shauna Mullaney.

A member of the Irish national karate team (development squad) since she was 12, Shauna took up karate aged just six, training in Meelick, Swinford. She began attending senior ladies squad training when she was just 15, and hasn't missed squad training since.

She achieved her first black belt (shodan) when she was 12 years old and her second black belt (nidan) at the age of 17, with plans to go for more grades in the future as time allows.

Shauna has a long list of impressive achievements to her credit. In 2017 alone she achieved three 11th placings at the Premier League K1 Paris and Dutch Opens and the World Karate Championships, Under 21, in Tenerife. She won gold in the Under 21 Scottish Open and took senior silver in the senior national championships.

As a self-funded athlete and full-time student in Dublin City University, the Olympics qualifying route is very expensive and Shauna has set up her own GoFundMe page to meet the costs involved.