By: DJ Kamal Mustafa
The Karate championships are held every year. The French Karate Federation is the largest association for karate in France and a member and the official representative for this sport in the French National Olympic and Sports Committee. The French Karate Federation is also a member of the European Karate Federation as the world association for the World Karate Federation. We are discussing the story of a few French Karateka’s that have won the Bronze and Gold Medals in 2021.
European Karate Federation (EKF) holds the European Karate Championships every year. All the European countries take part in the championships. All the nations have won medals, but France holds the record for most medals after Spain. France has the best athletes who have proved themselves through hard work and won the titles.
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Raybak Abdesselem
Raybak Abdesselem is a French karateka champion who represents France in the Karate championships. Raybak has won few silver, bronze medals, and a gold medal in European Junior Karate Championships, World Junior, Cadet & U21 Championships, European U21 Championships, and 2021 EKF Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships.
The 2021 EKF Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships was held in Tampere, Finland. The French team concluded its European Youth Championships in three finals in the fights. Raybak Abdesselem takes the title of 2021 European Youth Championships, win 8-0 in Final against Russian Andreev in U21 84 KG. It was the first gold medal in the U21 84 KG Kumite category that Raybak won for France.
Steven Da Costa
Born on January 23, 1997, Is a French Karateka. He has won many golds, silver, and bronze medals in the European and World Championships. Steven won the first gold medal in the men’s 67 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. The 23 years old athlete made his debut in Tokyo. He is the first French Karateka to qualify for Tokyo and remains the only one. He is the first French Karateka to become Olympic champion. Steven Da Costa comes from a family steeped in karate. His older brother Logan and his twin brother Jessie are also in the France team. Their father “Michel” is a black belt and a trainer.
Steven is already a world champion in 2018 in Madrid, and he is the current world number one in the category of 67 KG. On August 5, 2021, he became the first Olympic champion in the history of karate.
Laetitia Feracci, Laura Pieri, and Louise Frieh
Three young girls Laetitia Feracci, Laura Pieri, and Louise Frieh, won the bronze medal in kata at the European Karate Championships in Croatia. The trio came in third place made France the fourth bronze medal in the European championships. Alexandra Feracci started karate in 1997 when she was just five years old. Her younger sister Laetitia soon followed, and the sisters excelled, competing in national and European championships. Laura Pieri, 17, is the youngest of the trio, with Laetitia 23 & Louise 20 made their country name with their skills.
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Along with this, France has won 6 Bronze, 2 Silver, and 2 Gold medals in 2021 in EKF Junior, Cadet & U21 Championships 2021.
DJ Kamal Mustafa is a DJ, Music Producer, Pakistani Film Maker & Journalist. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space