Dusard, 36, eyes retirement

HAVING finished back-to-back tournaments by conceding in gold-medal bouts due to injury, Nicholas Dusard, 36, pound for pound Jamaica’s most decorated martial artist, believes his time is winding down on the international scene.

Dusard won his sixth International Sport Kickboxing Association Amateur Members Association (ISKA AMA) gold medal at last month’s World Championship in Brisbane, Australia, topping the -75kg division in semi-contact (points sparring).

However, similar to July’s International Sport Karate Association US Open in Orlando, Florida, when he conceded to teammate Adrian Moore after winning clash-sparring gold, injury prevented Dusard from completing the double, quitting in the continuous-sparring final.

After missing Vienna 2024, Dusard left Brisbane with ISKA AMA points-sparring gold and continuous-sparring silver, adding to double gold won in Germany 2023. Before COVID-19 struck, he had won gold in points and silver in continuous, Ireland 2019, and a double gold at home in Jamaica, 2028, at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

Though his combined martial arts teammate Akino Lindsay holds the world record for gold medals won at the ISKA AMA World Championships, Dusard has won more US Open gold than any fighter in the history of the tournament, having fought at the world’s biggest martial arts open since he was a teen, missing only the COVID-19 years of 2020 and 2021.

However, injury in Orlando denied Dusard what would have been a third consecutive and fourth double-gold since 2019. Recurrence at the ISKA AMA in Brisbane has had Dusard pondering his future on the mat.

“Winning an international martial arts gold medal is, in and of itself, a difficult undertaking,” Dusard noted. At 36, I am always training. I try to keep myself ready, but it was difficult at the last two tournaments, ending both with injuries,” said the former Wolmer’s Boys’ School scholar and 2006 Prime Minister’s Youth Award winner for Excellence in Sports.

“I couldn’t continue with the injury. I conceded, just like the US Open. It’s just one of those things. Getting older, injuries take longer to heal and occur more often than before,” added the two-time US Open Night of Champions tae kwon do winner,” who now resides in Canada, where he is a personal trainer and martial arts instructor.

“Being in the ring and competing, I am still sharp enough to keep up with the best in the world. My one issue is whether my body can hold up to training and going into competitions. If it were up to how I feel, physically, I would say I have another four years, but the body is breaking down, especially at the international level, so I am not sure. To be honest, this could be it for me.”

Meanwhile, Dusard, who created local martial arts history by winning Jamaica’s first ever International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) senior gold medal as an 18-year-old at the Pan-Am Championships in Brazil, believes younger fighters such as Sharic Bowen, who won his first international gold in Brisbane, needs more support from seniors.

“A lot more giving-back is needed from the people who passed through the system. As a junior, I had a lot of help,” said Dusard, who created local and regional martial arts history by winning his third Pan Am title in eight years in 2016 at the 13th ITF World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“A seemingly simple thing as team members who drive would transport me to and from training. More mentorship is needed to show youngsters a life can be made from sports,” he pointed out.