After long battle, karate gets long-awaited chance on Olympic stage June 30 12:05 pm JST June 30 | 12:05 pm JST
Karate has fought a long, hard battle to earn its place as an Olympic sport.
Despite its 100 million practitioners worldwide, a solid place in popular culture and a rich history that some say can be traced back to the 15th century, the Japanese martial art s bid to join the Olympics had been rejected three times, including, initially, for Tokyo 2020.
It was only thanks to the provision under the Olympic Agenda 2020 reform blueprint adopted in 2014 that Games hosts were allowed to propose a number of sports and karate was granted a second shot.
Karate-After long battle, karate gets long-awaited chance on biggest stage
FILE PHOTO: Spain s Karate kata athlete Sandra Sanchez, current World and European Champion, strikes a pose during a training session in Madrid while preparing for the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, where Karate will be an Olympic sport for first time, March 3, 2021. Picture taken on March 3, 2021. REUTERS/Sergio Perez/File Photo
June 30, 2021
By Chang-Ran Kim
TOKYO (Reuters) – Karate has fought a long, hard battle to earn its place as an Olympic sport.
Despite its 100 million practitioners worldwide, a solid place in popular culture and a rich history that some say can be traced back to the 15th century, the Japanese martial art’s bid to join the Olympics had been rejected three times, including, initially, for Tokyo 2020.
Turkish athletes medal hopes looking bright ahead of Tokyo Olympics
Turkish athletes medal hopes looking bright ahead of Tokyo Olympics
Karate team placed at top of standings for 4th time in row as several athletes got quota for Summer Olympic games
2021-06-03 18:34:24
Turkish athletes bagged lots of medals for their country ahead of Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Despite a challenging year for the sports world by the global coronavirus pandemic, the athletes amassed numerous achievements in the international arena.
Collecting six gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze medal, Turkey have been placed at the top of the standings for the fourth time in a row in the general classification at 56th EKF European Senior Karate Championships.