Bulgarian karate athletes with impressive achievements at the European Kyokushin Karate Championship

On May 24th and 25th, the 38th European Karate Kyokushin Championship was held in Warsaw. The BKA-IKO BULGARIA team, led by Shihan Emil Kostov, participated with 20 competitors, 3 of whom were from the Burgas club of Shihan Gergana Apostolova-Kostova. On the first day, the children, juniors, girls and young men from the Bulgarian team won 5 gold and 2 bronze medals. Among the winners was Stratimir Stratiev from SKK "KYOKUSHIN SPIRIT" Burgas, who won gold in the men's under 80 kg category. However, his teammate Yaroslava Prudnikova was eliminated in the qualifications in the girls' category.

The second day of the championship, in which around 1100 competitors from 27 countries participated, continued with the matches for men, women and veterans. Shihan Kostov's team had 6 competitors, with Evgeni Prudnikov finishing second in the men's kata (age group 34-49 years). The Bulgarian team also won another bronze medal and a fourth place in the men's category. Shihan Emil Kostov and Shihan Gergana Kostova were the main referees for the two disciplines.