Vasyl Kostyuk on the historic triumph of the national karate team at the European Championships: "We’re no longer catching up: we’re setting the pace in Europe!"
Ukrainian Karate Federation sponsor Vasyl Kostyuk summed up his first year of working with the Federation and emphasized the historic victory of Ukraine’s young karate team among cadet, junior and youth teams at the European Championships.
His first emotion after hearing the news about Ukraine success in the overall team standings was genuine pride, he says, for his country, the athletes and the coaches. "We did not just win medals," at the Limasol competition, he points out: "For the first time in history, we were the strongest team on the continent."
"This kind of outcome is proof that systematic work, belief in our youth, and the right approach to organizing training lead to results," says Kostyuk.
Kostyuk also notes the quality of the awards achieved: 4 golds, 7 silvers and 2 bronzes, for a total of 13 medals for Ukraine. The UKF’s sponsor is convinced that it’s not just about good numbers but about a long-term breakthrough. "Our young karateka repeated their previous record for the overall number of medals, but the weight of gold has increased considerably," Kostyuk underscores. "This means that Ukrainian karateka are no longer catching up but are setting the pace in Europe."
Kostyuk goes on to separately mention the role of the coaching team led by Dmytro Nehaturov and their daily systematic efforts in shaping the foundation for these results. "After all, it’s the best athletes who enter competitions at this level, the ones who are physically prepared to win fights," Kostyuk says. "But it’s the psychological preparation and the athlete’s state that determine whether that individual will reach the podium."
Vasyl Kostyuk also mentions working with the Federation leadership, which he says is very much a partnership. The professional approach of the management team led by Ivan Dutchak makes it possible to quickly and effectively get initiatives up and running, he says: "We work like partners with a common goal. We’re not just investing in today’s results, but in the future of Ukrainian sports."
Summing up this first year of cooperation, Kostyuk sees it thus: "This has been the year when a common goal, systematic preparation and daily effort have transformed the potential of Ukrainian athletes into a historic result for all of Europe."
Further ahead, he says, lies the main challenge: to maintain the dynamic of development and to ensure that such successes are not rare or exceptional but a stable outcome for Ukrainian karate.
On February 6-8, the 53rd European U21 Championships in Karate took place in Limasol, Cyprus, for cadets, juniors and youth. A total of 1,726 athletes from 47 countries participated. For Ukraine, it was a historic event: the national team took first place in Europe, winning 4 gold, 7 silver and 2 bronze medals.
