A budding karateka out of Papamoa has just had her first whiff of international competition – and now she is cautiously pondering a place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Isabellah McGregor won't know until next August whether karate has been officially included in the Olympic programme, but should it be, the 11-year-old will be 16 in 2020 and eligible to compete. By then, her dad Joseph's bank account may have recovered sufficiently from their most recent competitive outing to support launching a bid.

Isabellah and Joseph McGregor are currently feeling 'pretty chuffed” after a trip to New Delhi, India, where they competed with 600 other commonwealth karate exponents.

Both came home with bronze medals – Isabellah for third in her age and weight division, and Dad third in the team fighting.

'It was tough,” says Joe. 'I am 37 and most of those I was fighting were in their early twenties – young and bloody fast, so it's a cool achievement.”

It was an overwhelming experience for an 11-year-old girl out of Papamoa and visiting a city with probably three times the population of New Zealand.

'There's lots of people in India – like billions. And it was hot but fun.”

This was Isabellah's first trip out of New Zealand and a bit of a culture shock.

'It very grubby and dirty, but cool. And you can't drink the tap water.”

But what about the fighting? 'It was nerve-racking.” Again, just because of the sheer numbers of competitors. 'The bouts were a little bit hard, but not as hard as the fights back home.”

But she would do it all again? 'In heartbeat.”

Karate is coursing through this family's veins. Joe's dad was a fighter and instructor; Joe himself was fighting before he started school and Isabellah was 'born fighting”.

But for the moment they are resting up after an 'awesome experience, a helluva buzz” in the Indian capital territory and a long way from Papamoa.

Then it's waiting anxiously to see if five shortlisted sports – karate, skateboarding, surfing, baseball/softball and sport climbing – are officially embraced as Olympic disciplines.

The McGregor's trip didn't happen without some local goodwill. Joe and Isabellah would like to Mt Intermediate, Compression Services and Robert Paige Engineering. These guys helped financially.