Two Karolinas with European Championship titles

Karolina Nowak won 3 gold medals, Karolina Czech 1 gold, and Adam Zięba 1 bronze—these are the results of our team, which took part in the open ITF Union European Championships in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, from 3–5 February!

 

Just under 200 people from a dozen or so countries took part in the competition. It was not the largest field, but many teams entered their elite athletes. The same was true in our case—three of our athletes from Team A travelled to Budapest under the leadership of coach Mikołaj Kotowicz. On registration day, it turned out that our representatives had prepared properly in terms of weight, and each of them fit into their category. The first day belonged to Karolina Nowak—competing in the junior division, she won her only final bout in the under-55 kg category quite smoothly and, as the only competitor, reached the qualifying height in special techniques, earning her 2 gold medals. Neither the other Karolina nor Adam managed to qualify for the special techniques finals, so they had to wait until the next day for the remaining events.

 

The second day of the competition once again began with the “Nowaczka” show—thanks to the personal consent of tournament director Don Dalton, she was allowed to compete in the women’s senior under-55 kg sparring event. Two unanimous victories, in the semifinal and final, gave her her third gold medal of the tournament. Karolina Czech was next on the mat, competing in the under-70 kg category. The semifinal turned out to be barely a walk in the park for her, but in the final she managed to defeat the Dutch competitor only after extra time, securing another gold for Poland. The last competitor to take part was Adam Zięba. Making his debut in the senior group, he advanced straight to the semifinal thanks to a bye. Unfortunately, despite Adam’s apparent advantage, it was the Dutch competitor’s hand that was raised after the bout. That athlete ultimately took first place, while Zięba received a bronze medal as consolation.

 

For our team, this was a very important event. It is clear that they are making steady progress. However, our athletes’ main goal is the World Championships in July.