MADRID (SPAIN) – 18 MARCH 2020 - The World Karate Federation has announced the first Karate athletes who have earned the qualification for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Due to the cancellation of the last qualifying tournaments because of the coronavirus outbreak, the first stage of the Olympic qualification pathway has been finalised. The four highest-ranked athletes per gender and Olympic event claim the 32 places allocated by standings. Additionally, the WKF has also confirmed the Japanese athletes who take the host nation quota in each one of the Olympic categories.
The qualified athletes in alphabetical order are:
Male Categories
Qualified Athletes
Female Categories
Qualified Athletes
Male Kata
Mattia Busato (ITA)
Antonio Diaz (VEN)
Ryo Kiyuna (JPN)
Damian Quintero (ESP)
Ali Sofuoglu (TUR)
Female Kata
Viviana Bottaro (ITA)
Sakura Kokumai (USA)
Mo Sheung Grace Lau (HKG)
Sandra Sanchez (ESP)
Kiyou Shimizu (JPN)
Male Kumite -67kg
Darkhan Assadilov (KAZ)
Angelo Crescenzo (ITA)
Steven Dacosta (FRA)
Vinicius Figueira (BRA)
Naoto Sago (JPN)
Female Kumite -55kg
Sara Bahmanyar (IRI)
Miho Miyahara (JPN)
Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu (TUR)
Anzhelika Terliuga (UKR)
Tzu-Yun Wen (TPE)
Male Kumite -75kg
Rafael Aghayev (AZE)
Bahman Asgari Ghoncheh (IRI)
Luigi Busa (ITA)
Stanislav Horuna (UKR)
Ken Nishimura (JPN)
Male Kumite -61kg
Merve Coban (TUR)
Giana Lotfy (EGY)
Jovana Prekovic (SRB)
Mayumi Someya (JPN)
Xiaoyan Yin (CHN)
Male Kumite +75kg
Ugur Aktas (TUR)
Ryutaro Araga (JPN)
Sajad Ganjzadeh (IRI)
Jonathan Horne (GER)
Ivan Kvesic (CRO)
Female Kumite +61kg
Hamideh Abbasali (IRI)
Meltem Hocaouglu (TUR)
Elena Quirici (SUI)
Ayumi Uekusa (JPN)
Irina Zaretska (AZE)
The Olympic qualification process continues now to allocate the rest of the places to complete the final list of 80 karatekas to participate in Tokyo 2020. No less than 24 athletes will earn the Olympic ticket at the qualification tournament to be held in Paris (France). Additionally, 12 athletes will get the berth for the Olympic Games by continental representation and up to four karatekas will take the Olympic ticket by the Tripartite Commission invitation places.
###
About the World Karate Federation
The World Karate Federation is the international governing body of Karate. With 197 national federations and headquarters in Madrid (Spain), the World Karate Federation mananges the sport of Karate and organises Karate events around the world. To learn more about WKF and its activities, please visit www.wkf.net.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
