Karate won seven medals on the first day of the Senior and Under-21 Pan American Karate Championships

Published at: 29/05/2026 02:08 PM

Venezuela won two gold and five bronze medals in different categories, on the first day of the Senior Pan-American and Under-21 Karate Championship, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from May 28 to 31.

The first gold title came in the kumite category for women's under-21 teams, where the team composed of Ana Vásquez, Emily Bonilla, Katherine Loyo and Valeria Díaz was proclaimed champion after beating the representatives of Chile in the 14-13 final.

The second gold medal for Venezuela was won by the women's under-21 kata team made up of María Reyes, Josmel Acosta and Salma Khattar, who dominated Mexico's team with authority 5-0 in the final, according to the press release of the Ministry of Popular Power for Sport.

In the individual competitions, Daniela García also excelled, who won a bronze medal in senior women's kata after beating the American Sakura Kokumai in the repechage with a score of 3-2. The Venezuelan shared third place with Canadian Claudia Laos-Loo, while Dominican María Dimitrova won gold ahead of Gabrielle Henrique.

The nationals also added two bronze medals in the women's under-21 kata, with Diana Oligino dominating group 1 of the repechage, after defeating American Rylee Rainone 4-1, while Daniela García returned to the podium after winning 5-0 against Colombia's María Duque in group 2.

Another outstanding performance was that of Oriana Rodríguez, who won a bronze medal after beating Dominican Pamela Rodríguez 8-2. in the repechage.

In the men's under-21 kata, Luis Villalta also provided third place for the national delegation by beating Canadian Noel Mantock 3-2.

Villalta shared third place with Alberto Urdaneta, while Colombian Maick Duque won the gold medal and American Pedro Pinheiro won silver.

This delegation will continue its participation in the individual categories until Sunday, May 31.

Mazo News Team