TOKYO – Egyptian Karate player Giana Farouk – who is also known as Giana Lotfy – won on Friday the bronze medal in the women’s kumite karate -61kg division of the Tokyo Olympics.
The 26-year-old Egyptian lost narrowly to China’s Xiaoyan Yin, who was declared the winner by the referee with the duo finishing on a point each, as the sport of karate made its debut in the Olympics.
Giana becomes the first Arab and African woman to win a medal in karate at the Olympics.
It is Egypt’s fourth medal in the Tokyo Olympic Games after Taekwondo players Hedaya Malak, Seif Issa and Greco-roman wrestler Mohamed Ibrahim managed to get on the Olympic podium.
Earlier, Giana had won three of her Pool A bouts as she qualified for the semi-finals after defeating Peruvian player Alexandra Vanessa, the 2019 Pan American Champion, 2-0.
Jovana Prekovic of Serbia has defeated the People’s Republic of China’s YIN Xiaoyan to take gold in the kumite -61kg karate competition.
Prekovic, the 2018 world champion, who also won the 2021 European Championships, will now stand on the top of the podium at the Olympics after a Hantei victory over Yin.
But the gold medal – in karate’s first appearance at the Olympic Games – goes to Serbia’s Prekovic.
Meanwhile, Italy’s Luigi Busa has become the Olympic gold medallist in the men’s kumite -75kg after beating Azerbaijan’s Rafael Aghayev in a tight bout at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
It was set to be a kumite bout for the ages as five-time world champion Aghayev and -75kg world no.1 Busa battled it out for gold.
Both karateka’s know each other well, having both faced each other on numerous occasions including at World Championships – most famously Busa’s only world title in the -75kg came in a win against Aghayev – as well as European Championships.
With a minute to go, Busa had a one-point advantage over his opponent before the Italian managed a powerful yet controlled hit on Aghayev’s face sending him to the sideline to be checked by the medics.
As the bout resumed the two karateka’s gave everything they had but Busa’s yuko would be the only difference as he secured gold in a 1-0 victory.
Hungary’s Karoly Gabor Harspataki and Ukraine’s Stanislav Horuna were the bronze medallist.
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