Kurdish Athlete Wins Gold at World Karate Championship

Kurdish Athlete Wins Gold at World Karate Championship

A Kurdish female athlete from Iran’s Kermanshah province has made history by winning a gold medal at the World Karate Championship in Egypt, defeating the reigning Chinese world champion in the final.

Atousa Golshannejad secured first place in the women’s 61kg category, becoming Iran’s first-ever female world champion in karate. “The level of the competition was very high, and in each weight category the top 32 karatekas in the world were present,” she told IRNA.

Golshannejad overcame China’s Gong Li in the final match, describing the victory as her proudest achievement. “Nothing is more valuable to me than bringing honor to my country,” she said.

Strong Performance Against Global Competitors

This year’s championship featured athletes from 87 countries. Golshannejad faced opponents from Uzbekistan, Cameroon, and Lithuania in the group stage. In the knockout rounds, she defeated competitors from Chile, Tunisia, and Belarus to reach the final.

Family Support Behind the Victory

The world champion credited her father for his continuous support throughout her athletic journey. “For 12 years, my father took me to the club every day, waited for my training to finish, and brought me home,” she said. “He always told me I would become a world champion. Now I have achieved it.”

Golshannejad has already earned multiple Asian Championship titles, including in Kazakhstan (2021), Malaysia (2023), and Kazakhstan again earlier this year.

Growing Kurdish Success in Combat Sports

Her victory follows last year’s achievement by another Kurdish athlete, Arian Salimi from Kermanshah, who won gold in the men’s 80+kg taekwondo category after defeating Britain’s Caden Cunningham 2–1 in the final.