Tokyo 2020 | Karate
At 39, the world number one crowns her record by beating the Japanese Kiyou Shimizu
It was the only medal missing. But not because he couldn’t have won it before, but because it simply didn’t exist. In the debut of karate as an Olympic sport in the legendary Budokan in Tokyo, the Spanish Sandra Sánchez has achieved this Friday the first gold in history in the modality of ‘kata’, which consists of an exhibition of blows and defenses without combat with another adversary. But that does not mean that Sánchez, number one in the world, has not had a rival, since she has been forced to work hard to beat the Japanese Kiyou Shimizu, number two, practicing the ‘kata’ Chantanyara Kushanku.
At 39, with this Olympic medal she completes her record as the best karate fighter in the world. World champion in individual ‘kata’ in 2018, for six years she has been winning the European titles consecutively and accumulates in her record more than 80 podiums. In March 2018, the World Karate Federation recognized her in its ranking of “All time” (“Of all times”) because she had been number one in the world for three years. Getting medals in all the tournaments in which he has participated, today there are five. A historical mark that has allowed him to enter the Guinness Book of Records for his triumphs in the Karate 1 Premier League, where he has achieved 35 consecutive medals between January 2014 and February 2020.
And all this after a career that began as a child, but did not emerge until she was very old, since she did not enter the national team until she was thirty years old. With only four, her parents signed her up for dance class, but Sandra just wanted to be with her brother, who had signed up for karate. “I always had him as a reference and, from then on, I started doing karate and never gave it up again,” he told the World Karate Federation last year.
Although Sánchez was presented with the opportunity to train at the High Performance Center at the age of 20, he preferred to return home to accompany his mother, who was ill. After finishing his degree in Sports Science, he moved to Australia, where he taught karate to children in Brisbane. It was there that he began to dream of making a career in the world of sports, for which he returned to Spain. Jesús del Moral, a reference of Spanish karate and current national coach, was not only convinced to be his coach, but also to get married. Since then, they have combined their love with the hits on the mat and the medals on the podiums. When karate was accepted as an Olympic sport in 2015, they both knew that their next target was Tokyo.
Passionate about Japanese anime, Sánchez has fulfilled her dream of hanging the first Olympic karate gold at her home, the temple of the Budokan martial arts. Tomorrow it’s the turn of Damián Quintero, another Spanish super champion who also aspires to Olympic glory.
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