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On the road to Tokyo: Dorata Banaszczyk

May 29, 2019 Leave a comment

THE POLISH KARATEKA TALKS ABOUT HER STUNNING WIN AT LAST YEAR’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND HER EXCITEMENT AHEAD OF KARATE’S OLYMPIC DEBUT NEXT YEAR IN THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE SPORT.

WKF

“For people in Poland it was a shock; my friends from the team did not believe what was going on, and it was hard to believe,” she recalls. “For the first time in the history of the World Championships, we heard our national anthem. For Poland, it was all the more exceptional [given] that the whole thing took place on the eve of the anniversary of independence.

“When it comes to karate in Poland, unfortunately we do not have the conditions for professional sports. I managed to do something from nothing – in fact alone with the coach and a small group of people. We earned this success and proved that if you want to, you can fulfil your dreams. Now we are working hard on the next step – participation in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.”

Hailing from the industrial city of Lodz in central Poland, Banaszczyk seemed destined for karate, despite the less-than-encouraging initial reactions of some of her contemporaries. “For as long as I can remember, I was drawn to martial arts,” she said. “My dad was a judoka, and I always liked to compete with my brother, who is one year younger, so when I went to my first karate class at the age of seven, it’s not surprising that I liked it immediately.

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