Irina Zaretska (born 4 March 1996) is a Ukrainian (until 2014) and Azerbaijani (since 2015)

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

ka. She won the silver medal in the women's +61kg event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

held in Tokyo, Japan. She is a three-time gold medalist in the women's 68kg event at the

World Karate Championships The Karate World Championships, also known as the World Karate Championships, are the highest level of competition for karate organized by the World Karate Federation (WKF). The competition is held in a different city every two years. Championshi ...

(2018, 2021 and 2023). Zaretska is also a two-time gold medalist in this event at the Islamic Solidarity Games (2017 and 2022) and the European Games (2015 and 2023).

Career

Zaretska won one of the bronze medals in the women's kumite 68kg event at the

2014 World Karate Championships The 2014 World Karate Championships were the 22nd edition of the World Karate Championships, and were held in Bremen, Germany from November 5 to November 9, 2014. Medalists Men Women Medal table Participating nations 887 athletes from ...

held in Bremen, Germany. At the

2017 Islamic Solidarity Games The 4th Islamic Solidarity Games was a multinational, multi-sport event that was held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 12 to 22 May 2017. Previously the event has been held in Saudi Arabia in 2005 and Indonesia in 2013. The second event, originally sch ...

held in Baku, Azerbaijan, she won the gold medal in the women's kumite 68kg event. At the

2018 European Karate Championships The 2018 European Karate Championships were the 53rd edition of the European Karate Championships, and were held in Novi Sad, Serbia from 10 to 13 May 2018. Medalists Men Women Medal table Participating nations 532 athletes from 52 n ...

held in Novi Sad, Serbia, Zaretska won the silver medal in the women's kumite 68kg event. In the final, she lost against

Elena Quirici Elena Quirici (born 16 February 1994) is a Swiss karateka. She is a two-time medalist at the World Karate Championships and a six-time medalist, including four golds, at the European Karate Championships. Quirici represented Switzerland at the ...

of Switzerland. She also became world champion in the women's kumite 68kg event at the

2018 World Karate Championships The 2018 World Karate Championships were the 24th edition of the World Karate Championships, and were held in Madrid, Spain from November 6 to November 11, 2018. Medalists Men Women Medal table Participating nations 1117 athletes from ...

held in Madrid, Spain. In 2019, Zaretska won the silver medal in the women's kumite 68kg event at the European Games held in Minsk, Belarus. Four years earlier, she won the gold medal in this event at the

2015 European Games The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic ...

held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Zaretska represented Azerbaijan in karate at the

in Tokyo, Japan. She won the silver medal in the women's +61kg event. In November 2021, she won the gold medal in the women's 68kg event at the

held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She competed in the women's kumite 68kg event at the

2022 European Karate Championships The 2022 European Karate Championships was the 57th edition of the European Karate Championships and 4th European Para Karate Championships, held in Gaziantep, Turkey from 25 to 29 May 2022. Medal table Medalists Men Women Participating na ...

held in Gaziantep, Turkey. She also competed in the women's team kumite event. She lost her bronze medal match in the women's 68kg event at the

2022 World Games The 2022 World Games were an international multi-sport event held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. They were the 11th World Games, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines of Olympic sports and other competitions ...

held in Birmingham, United States. She won the gold medal in the women's 68kg event at the

2021 Islamic Solidarity Games ‌The 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games ( tr, 2021 İslami Dayanışma Oyunları) were the 5th edition of the event held from 9 to 18 August 2022 at Konya, Turkey under the aegis of Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF). It was the first time ...

held in Konya, Turkey. Zaretska won the silver medal in the women's 68kg event at the

2023 European Karate Championships The 2023 European Karate Championships was the 58th edition of the European Karate Championships and 5th European Para Karate Championships and were held in Guadalajara, Spain from 22 to 26 March 2023. Medal table Medalists Men Women Pa ...

held in Guadalajara, Spain. A few months later, she won the gold medal in her event at the

2023 European Games The 3rd European Games ( pl, III Igrzyska Europejskie, Igrzyska Europejskie 2023), informally known as Kraków-Małopolska 2023, is a scheduled international sporting event to be held in Kraków and Małopolska, Poland in 2023. All Olympic sports h ...

held in Poland. She also won the gold medal in the women's 68kg event at the

2023 World Karate Championships The 2023 World Karate Championships was held from 24 to 29 October 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. Iranian team's visa problems The visas of 21 Iranian karateka were not issued for various reasons. These karatekas were present in the men's kata an ...

held in Budapest, Hungary.

Achievements

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaretska, Irina 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Odesa Azerbaijani female karateka Ukrainian female karateka Karateka at the 2015 European Games Karateka at the 2019 European Games Karateka at the 2023 European Games European Games medalists in karate European Games gold medalists for Azerbaijan European Games silver medalists for Azerbaijan Ukrainian emigrants to Azerbaijan Naturalized citizens of Azerbaijan Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in karate Islamic Solidarity Games competitors for Azerbaijan Karateka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic karateka for Azerbaijan Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in karate Olympic silver medalists for Azerbaijan Competitors at the 2022 World Games 21st-century Ukrainian women 21st-century Azerbaijani women Medalists at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games