Articles · 285 articles
Reports and announcements from the published archive.
On 1 November, IOC President Kirsty Coventry joined karate's Focus Day at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. A team kata and kumite demonstration by Senegal's national team, talks with young medallists and children from SOS Children's Villages Senegal marked her visit.
The biopic of Sandra Sánchez opened in Spanish cinemas on 30 October. In Madrid, WKF President Antonio Espinós attended the premiere and praised the champion and her coach Jesús del Moral as "true ambassadors" of karate.
Meeting on 26 October, Japan's Parliamentary Karate Support League elected Masahiko Shibayama as its president and put karate's Olympic prospects for Brisbane 2032 at the centre of its discussions. The Japan Karate Federation also outlined two major events in Tokyo in 2027 and 2028.
Cameras around the tatami and AI that spots attacks and step-outs: the World Karate Federation will trial a new refereeing support tool in December at the Karate One Youth League in Venice. Referees keep the final say.
Eight years after its first Youth Olympic medals in Buenos Aires, karate returns to the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar as an engagement sport. Its big day is Sunday 1 November, a Karate Focus Day on the Corniche led by Douglas Brose.
Mexico will host the XV WKF World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships in Guadalajara in 2028. The WKF flag was handed over in Bielsko-Biała.
The 6th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Riyadh move to 28 March–8 April 2027. Karate keeps 13 events: kata and kumite for men and women.
Karate will award no medals at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic event on African soil. It will be there all the same, on the Corniche, among schoolchildren and passers-by, with Douglas Brose as the IOC's Athlete Role Model.
In Bielsko-Biała, Palestine's Mariam Bsharat won junior −66 kg kumite gold, adding to her 2024 cadet crown: two world titles at two consecutive editions.
Two weeks after a last gold in Salzburg, the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist confirmed in Bielsko-Biała that he has retired and wants to work with the WKF.
Okumura and García Lozano in kata, a second straight title for Omar Osman, a first international gold for Alexandr Capmoale: the final day in Bielsko-Biała crowned the U21 world champions before Japan and Italy closed the week in team kata.
Meeting in Bielsko-Biała during the World Cadet, Junior and U21 Championships, the WKF's Brisbane 2032 Supervisory Board, chaired by Antonio Espinós, reviewed the action plan behind karate's Olympic hopes and the IOC criteria that will frame the decision.
Twenty-three world titles on Saturday in Bielsko-Biała: a first Polish gold for Natalia Balut, a 15-year-old Kvesić following his brothers, and Ito and Hamazawa repeating their cadet success as juniors.
Meeting in Bielsko-Biała during the youth World Championships, the new WKF Executive Committee named Davide Benetello First Vice President, Davor Cipek General Secretary and Elisa Au Assistant General Secretary, and thanked Toshihisa Nagura for twelve years at the head of the secretariat.
A home finalist from Sopot, a Palestinian 8-7 and a Moldovan 15-14: the U21 and junior finals of the WKF youth Worlds are set before the weekend's medal bouts.
