“It is crazy. I am feeling so many things together. I am happy,but I want to cry,” she said. “It was the perfect final. With Shimizu,in Japan,at the Budokan. This really is the best moment. It is amazing.” (The Budokan,a temple-shaped indoor arena,is the home of martial arts in Tokyo and first opened for the 1964 Olympics.)
Shimizu,carrying the weight of centuries of Japanese technique and practice on her shoulders,was devastated. “I faced a lot of difficulties to reach this point so I really wanted to win,” she said through tears.
But if anything,her loss shows how much broader karate’s appeal is than the stereotype. The same is true of the men’s kumite,where France’s Steven da Costa beat Turkey’s Eray Samdan for gold on Thursday.
IOC Refugee Olympic Team member Hamoon Derafshipour had his first fight in the 67-kilogram division. The 28-year-old wanted his wife,Samira Malekipour,the former Iranian women’s national team coach,to be able to train him so they moved from Iran,where women were prevented from coaching men. They left behind their karate school and 400 students to set up a new life in Canada.
“This dream is for both of us,” Derafshipour told Canadian broadcaster CBC. “We don’t have time to be happy. We want to get results.”
In Tokyo,Malekipour defines tactics and makes the video referee calls. This sport of Okinawan island kings now comes with VAR. Is the contact clean? Mostly. Although even an Olympic kick can get tangled between padded hands and feet.
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In another fight,Derafshipour bounced,pushed,bounced and pushed before sniping Venezuela’s Andres Madera Delgado right on the edge of the mat.
Encircling Delgado,Derafshipour struck fast with his feet and then jabbed with his hand. When he hit,his eyes lit up. Each karateka has their own scream,Derafshipour’s sounds like someone who has broken through struggle.
“We are proud of ourselves,” said Derafshipour. “I believe karate is in my blood.”
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The former delivery driver took bronze in the kumite at the 2018 World Karate Championships in Madrid and was a contender for the Refugee team’s first-ever Olympic medal when he entered the Budokan on Thursday.
Derafshipour took down Latvia’s Kalvis Kalnins 5-3 and Delgado 9-3. But he lost to eventual gold medallist Da Costa,and finally to bronze medallist Abdel Rahman Almasatfa of Jordan,just missing the semi-finals.
The sport was chosen by Japan for inclusion in its Games along with skateboarding,climbing and surfing,but its inclusion in future Olympics is uncertain.
Karate,which rewards self-discipline,perseverance and fearlessness is more than a sport to the 80 fighting for the first and last time at an Olympic level in Tokyo.
“It’s all of my life,” said Derafshipour.
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