European Karate Championships: Mirnesa Bektaš European Champion

The 45th European Karate Championships for Cadets, Juniors and Seniors U21 were held in the Russian city of Sochi, with competitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina also taking part.

Mirnesa Bektaš, a member of the University Karate Club „Bosna“ and the karate national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, became European champion in the senior women's U21 +68kg category. On her way to the gold medal, Mirnesa defeated representatives of Finland, Austria and Israel.

In the first match, Mirnesa defeated Korpela Maria, a representative of Finland, with a score of 3-1. In the next match, she defeated the representative of Austria, Ziller Lora (4th on the world ranking list), with a score of 4-3.

The final match was fought by Mirnesa against the representative of Israel, Lončić Dina (39th on the world ranking list), which ended with a score of 6-2 in favor of Mirnesa.

Mirnesa is 9th on the world ranking list in the senior women's U21 +68 kg category and 47th on the world list for senior women +68 kg, and this medal will certainly contribute to her advancement on the ranking lists and fulfilling the norm for the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020.

This is the first European medal for Bosnia and Herzegovina in karate since karate was included in the Olympic sports for the Olympiad in Tokyo 2020, which is an exceptional result for Mirnesa and her coaches and professional staff, led by Suad Ćupina.