Preparing a World Championships is an extraordinary task. The chairmen of the Bremen Organizing Committee, Reiner Zimbalski and Horst Kaireit, talk about ideas, wishes and a lot of work.

Preparing a World Championships is an extraordinary task. The chairmen of the Bremen Organizing Committee, Reiner Zimbalski and Horst Kaireit, talk about ideas, wishes and a lot of work.

Why and when did you decide to become a candidate for the organization of this competition?
After organizing the European Championships in 2003 we were looking for a new challenge, which could be a World Championships only! In 2005 the first discussions started whether and when we should apply for a World Championships. A World Senior Karate Championships is the greatest tournament within the WKF organization, to apply and being chosen as host is a great honour for our country, our federation and for us personally.

What were / are the goals for you? What are the strengths of Bremen 2014?
We want / will provide a perfect organization, our OC and all volunteers are dedicated and committed to this objective. Bremen’s strengths are diverse: short ways from the airport / main station to the venue, all official hotels are in walking distance to the venue, the venue was refurbished and has now a capacity of approximately 10,000 spectators.

What messages do you want to convey?
Our message is: Welcome to Bremen, the World Karate Capital 2014 – Be part of it!

Have you set priorities?
We want to organize a World Senior Karate Championships for all participants, i.e. the athletes, the officials and last but not least the spectators. Our priorities are to have a „sold out“ venue during the eliminations and the finals, and to prepare and conduct an opening ceremony with a show, which is showing the world outside of Karate that we are a remarkable sport.

111 days are left before the event, how is the project going?
We are following our project plan, which gives us the road map to reach the goal. Our OC is nearly the same as for the EKF Senior Championships 2003 and even the organization of it was a really exhausting experience, the members of the OC wanted to get the next challenge with the World Karate Senior Championship. We all have over 11 years of experience and some of them are already retired, but they are still burning for it and proud to “Be part” of the forthcoming 22nd World Karate Senior Championships. It is a real pleasure to see how dedicated the team is and how the team spirit is leading us through all challenges of our exciting journey towards the overall objective: a well-organized and successful tournament.
Germany is well known for its efficiency and good organizational skills. Also the remarkable World Karate Senior Championships 2000 in Munich is still being mentioned all over the world. Here in Bremen we have shown how excellent a European Championships can be conducted and therefore our target is to exceed the Munich 2000 level and we are looking forward that Bremen 2014 will remain in the memories as “best in class”. So we want to set standards for the future to help our Karate to get the recognition in the world which it deserves.
Willi Lemke, Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, has accepted the patronage for the 22nd Karate Senior Championships. Due to his presence throughout the world he is the perfect ambassador for the Karate Senior Championships.

For general information about the 22nd World Senior Karate Championships, please visit our dedicated page here.