Learn more about Karate’s first qualified athletes for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

The World Karate Federation announced the list of the first Karate athletes with the ticket to participate in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Here we review simple facts about the first 40 men and women who will represent Karate at the Games. 

Learn more about Karate’s first qualified athletes for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

The World Karate Federation announced the list of the first Karate athletes with the ticket to participate in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Here we review simple facts about the first 40 men and women who will represent Karate at the Games.

- 20 nations represented. The first qualified athletes come from 20 different nations and four continents.

- Turkey, Italy and Iran lead the way. In addition to Japan, with one competitor in each category for the host nation quota, the countries with more representatives are Turkey, with five athletes, and Iran and Italy with four athletes each. Spain, Azerbaijan and Ukraine all have two karatekas qualified.

- Japanese among the top ten. The strength of Japanese karatekas is stated in the fact that all the athletes from the host country that are qualified for Tokyo 2020 are placed among the top ten karatekas in Karate’s Olympic standings. Ryo Kiyuna takes the second place in Male Kata, Naoto Sago is eighth in Male Kumite -67kg, Ken Nishimura is fourth in Male Kumite -75kg, Ryutaro Araga is seventh in Male Kumite +75kg, Miho Miyahara takes the fourth place in Female Kumite -55kg, Mayumi Someya is tenth in Female Kumite -61kg and Ayumi Uekusa is placed in the sixth position in Female Kumite +61kg.



- Karate heroes on top. The karatekas who finish the qualification by standings in the first position in each one of the categories are: Damian Quintero (ESP) in Male Kata, Darkhan Assadilov (KAZ) in Male Kumite -67kg, Bahman Asgari Ghoncheh (IRI) in Male Kumite -75kg, Ugur Aktas (TUR) in Male Kumite +75g, Sandra Sanchez (ESP) in Female Kata, Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu (TUR) in Female Kumite -55kg, Xiaoyan Yin (CHN) in Female Kumite -61kg and Irina Zaretska (AZE) in Female Kumite +61kg

- Importance of the seeding. The first position in the standings gives leaders in each one of the categories the preference in the seeding ahead of the Olympic draw.

- Ten World champions. No less than ten out of the twelve current World champions won the ticket to Tokyo 2020 by standings. Sandra Sanchez (ESP), Miho Miyahara (JPN), Jovana Prekovic (SRB), Irina Zaretska (AZE), Ryo Kiyuna (JPN), Angelo Crescenzo (ITA), Steven Dacosta (FRA), Bahman Asgari Ghoncheh (IRI), Ivan Kvesic (CRO) and Jonathan Horne (GER) are the defending world title-holders already qualified for the Games.

- Seven former World champions. In addition to the current World title-holders, six karatekas to participate in the Games also have experience in reaching the top of the podium at World Championships. Antonio Diaz (VEN) has two world crowns, just as Kiyou Shimizu (JPN), Luigi Busa (ITA), and Giana Lotfy (EGY) all of them with two world titles. Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu (TUR) won the world title in 2014 and Ayumi Uekusa (JPN) took the crown in 2016. Rafael Aghayev (AZE) heads the list of former World champions with five world titles.



- All 12 Grand Winners. The list of first qualified athletes includes all 12 defending Grand Winners. All the current owners of the golden karate-gi have earned the ticket to the Games. The Grand Winners qualified for Tokyo 2020 are Sandra Sanchez (ESP), Ryo Kiyuna (JPN), Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu (TUR), Anzhelika Terliuga (UKR), Darkhan Assadilov (KAZ), Steven Dacosta (FRA), Xiaoyan Yin (CHN), Rafael Aghayev (AZE), Ayumi Uekusa (JPN), Irina Zaretska (AZE), Ugur Aktas (TUR) and Sajad Ganjzadeh (IRI).

- Up to 13 continental champions. The host of qualified athletes also have an ample representation of karatekas who have succeeded at the continental level, with 13 current continental champions included. From the Asian Karate Federation, the karatekas with the continental title under their belts are Kiyou Shimizu (JPN), Xiaoyan Yin (CHN), Hamideh Abbasali (IRI), Ryo Kiyuna (JPN) and Ken Nishimura (JPN). Meanwhile, the European champions in the list are Sandra Sanchez (ESP), Merve Coban (TUR), Damian Quintero (ESP), Steven Dacosta (FRA), Luigi Busa (ITA), Ugur Aktas (TUR) and Jonathan Horne (GER). From the African Karate Federation, the continental champion in Tokyo 2020 thus far is Giana Lotfy (EGY).

- 29 years old is the average. The athletes qualified by ranking have an average of 29 years old. The most experienced karateka among the male athletes is Venezuela’s Antonio Diaz (39 years-old) followed by Spain’s Damian Quintero (35 years old) while the youngest is France’s Steven Dacosta (23 years old) followed by Croatia’s Ivan Kvesic (23 years old). In women’s competition, the most experienced competitor is Spain’s Sandra Sanchez (38 years old) followed by Italy’s Viviana Bottaro (32 years old) while the youngest are Iran’s Sara Bahmanyar (20 years old) and Japan’s Miho Miyahara (23 years old)