Bielsko-Biała 2026: U21 world champions crowned as Japan tops the medal table

The last day of the 2026 World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships belonged to the oldest athletes in Bielsko-Biała. Sunday crowned the U21 world champions, the final step before senior karate and, for several of them, the first world title of a career. By the time the last bow was made, Japan sat at the top of the medal table and the event had already fixed its next meeting: Mexico, 2028.

Two kata finals, two different stories

The kata finals told contrasting tales. Japan's Soshi Okumura left little room for doubt, beating Türkiye's Furkan Kaynar 5-0. The 2025 U21 continental champion had won the junior world title in Venice two years ago; in Poland he added the U21 crown.

Paola García Lozano's final was much tighter. The Spaniard, a two-time U21 continental champion and the current senior continental runner-up, had taken silver at the World Championships in Venice two years ago. Against Brazil's Gabrielle Henrique the judges split 3-2, and this time the narrow margin went her way.

Osman again, Capmoale for the first time

In kumite, Egypt's Omar Osman did something that is rarely simple at this level: he arrived as world champion and left as world champion. His 5-3 win over Ukraine's Nikita Dmytrenko in the −84 kg final gave him the U21 world title for the second consecutive time. His record already includes three Karate One Premier League medals and the 2026 senior continental title.

For Moldova's Alexandr Capmoale, Sunday was about a beginning. Earlier in the week he had reached the −67 kg final through a 15-14 semi-final that the WKF called extraordinary, as we reported when the finals took shape. Against Türkiye's Savas Ogus he won 9-5, and with it the first international gold medal of his career, after U21 bronze at the 2025 Karate One Youth League in Guadalajara and bronze at the 2023 U21 continental championships.

From Salzburg to the top step

Spain's Izan Martín Peña covered a short distance in the calendar and a long one in results. Only weeks ago he took bronze at the 2026 Karate One Series A in Salzburg. In Bielsko-Biała he went all the way, beating Morocco's Haitam Oufkir 6-4 in the −75 kg final for the first gold medal of his career.

The other U21 champions

The rest of the U21 titles were shared between Europe and Africa, and several of them confirmed promises made two years earlier in Venice. Sweden's Agnes Nyman, junior silver medallist there and winner of the Karate One Premier League event in Istanbul this year, beat Greece's Christina Triada Pappa 4-2 in −50 kg. Egypt's Sally Abdou, a U21 continental bronze medallist, stepped up to a world title in −55 kg with a 2-0 final. Germany's Anastasiia Semenenko, U21 silver medallist in Venice, needed the judges: after a 0-0 final against Croatia's Korina Klaric in −61 kg, she won on hantei. Belgium's Amin Abdelmalki also improved on a Venice silver, edging Mexico's Daniel Alejandro Cruz Romero 5-4 in −60 kg.

Ukraine's Uliana Baranova, whose best result until then had been silver at the 2026 junior continental championships, beat Greece's Eirini-Grigoria Katsika 3-1 in −68 kg for her first gold medal. In +68 kg, the Czech Republic's Amalie Hakova, a three-time Karate One Series A bronze medallist, beat Croatia's Sara Tomic 7-1. In +84 kg, Ivan Kudzinaou, competing under the WKF banner, beat Luxembourg's Alexander Davies 7-1, adding a world title to his bronze medal from the senior world championships.

Japan at the top of the table

The final medal table confirmed the shape of the week. Japan finished first with 12 medals, six of them gold, ahead of Egypt with 11 medals and four golds, and Spain with eight medals, three of them gold. The day before, Natalia Balut had given Poland a home gold and 15-year-old Viktor Kvesić had extended a Croatian family story, as told in our Day 4 report.

Team kata closes the week

The last titles went to teams. In the cadet and junior female kata team final, Japan beat Spain and extended a run of consecutive gold medals at the World Cadet and Junior Championships that dates back to 2019. In the male final, Italy beat Türkiye 4-1, taking the final title of the championships and bringing the competition in Bielsko-Biała to a close.

A host city, and a date in Mexico

During the week, WKF President Antonio Espinós met the President of the City of Bielsko-Biała, Jarosław Klimaszewski, at his office, accompanied by Polish Karate Union President Paweł Połtorzecki. "This city has quickly become one of the hubs of karate in Europe," he said, recalling the 2025 EKF Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships, the European Games and the Polish Open, held there every year. "It is encouraging to see the support that karate receives here, and I hope this relationship continues to grow in the years to come."

The WKF closed the 2026 edition with a celebration of karate values and of the strength of its young karateka. The generation that stepped onto the tatami in Bielsko-Biała now has a horizon: the next World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships will be held in Mexico in 2028.