DALLAS — Brian Irr started in karate at the age of 8.
He grew up in Newfane and competed out of Lockport. By the time he had reached his teens, he was winning at the national level.
He knew bigger things were ahead.
"As I was progressing, I realized how much I enjoyed competition. I was performing well. The people that I would meet through these experiences and one thing led to another," Irr said.
When he learned that karate would be added to the Olympic menu for the 2020 games in Tokyo, he decided to take things to a new level. He moved to Dallas so that he could train and compete with the best in the world.
"I've always felt motivated in underdog situations ... so at any time when I was competing against an opponent who was maybe faster than me or stronger than me, I felt like that was my time to shine. That was my chance to prove myself," he said.
He's proven himself to the point where he is ranked 13th in the world. He won gold at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, this past summer and is now just one step away from qualifying for Tokyo.
Brody Burns is the Director of Operations for USA Karate, He says he's impressed with Irr's progress.
"He's doing all the right stuff. I'm very excited not only in the potential qualification results, but actually in his ring performance when he's actually competing," Burns said. "So he's right where he needs to be. We just need to get a couple of more solid wins under our belt and we're golden."
The world "golden" is something Irr says he allows himself to think about only to an extent as he looks toward a potential Olympic opportunity.
"Of course ... that's always the dream. That's the goal ... but like I said ... not focusing too much on the finish line. ... Just focusing on each step along the way."
Irr's next chance to qualify for the games comes up in Paris during the month of May.