Enes Özdemir: It's very upsetting that karate is not an Olympic sport

Enes Özdemir, who won the gold medal in men's kata at the European Karate Championship, expressed his hopes for karate to be accepted into the Olympics by 2032 while discussing his goals.

The national athlete, in his statement after winning the gold medal, said, “I have become the European champion here four times. It was an arena I had competed in before. I am used to such an environment. Of course, there is always some stress when entering the finals, no matter how many matches I have played. I am very happy right now because I managed to cope with that stress and hang this gold medal around my neck. This was my sixth championship. We won four in team kata and two individually. I was the European champion last year. Thankfully, we dominated again this year and I became the European champion once more. I am happy. My best kata is already Unsu. Reaching the finals with Unsu was an additional advantage. We concluded the final beautifully. I had also experienced championship in team kata here in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. I would like to thank my teammates Ali Sofuoğlu and Emre Vefa Göktaş. Thankfully, I achieved my sixth European championship. I am happy,” he said.

'HOPEFULLY, WE WILL ACHIEVE MANY MORE CHAMPIONSHIPS'

Speaking about his future goals, Özdemir said, “Moreover, hopefully, many more will come. While saying these will be 5, it became 6. Hopefully, the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th will come. We will continue to work in the best way for greater achievements. Our goal is the next year's European Championship and European Games. The European Games will be held in Turkey. I am also happy about that. Hopefully, next year I will win gold medals in both the European Championship and the European Games, as well as the World Championship, and represent our country in the best way possible,” he said.

'I FELT THE PUNCH I THREW, THE KICK I MADE, AND THE GROUND I STEPPED ON VERY WELL'

Enes Özdemir continued his speech with the following statements:

“I said 'Okay' because I felt good, 'I won this match.' Because my feelings were very good. I felt the punch I threw, the kick I made, and the ground I stepped on very well. Since my feelings were good, I did not even hesitate. We saw the scores one by one anyway. We were almost heading towards a 7-0 score, unfortunately, it remained at 6-1. Let that be a charm. Hopefully, it will be better next year.”

'I WOULD LOVE FOR KARATE TO BE INCLUDED IN THE OLYMPICS IN 2032'

Emphasizing that he is very upset that karate is not an Olympic sport, Özdemir said, “It is very upsetting that karate is not an Olympic sport. Of course, every athlete's dream after this arena is the Olympics. Winning a championship at the World Championship is never the same as winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Of course, my dream is to become an Olympic champion, but the exclusion of karate from the Olympics upsets me a lot. Hopefully, the karate branch will have the opportunity to participate in the 2032 Olympics. I would love that. For now, my goal is to become a world champion. Of course, if it enters the Olympics, I will do my best to become an Olympic champion,” he said.