The European Karate Championships are organised by the European Karate Federation each year.

History

Events from 1966 to 1996 were organized by the European Karate Union. In 1961,

Jacques Delcourt Jacques Delcourt (August 21, 1928 – November 11, 2011) was a prominent Sports administrator who was instrumental in creating the European Karate Union which later became the European Karate Federation and this in turn inspired the creat ...

was appointed President of French Karate, which was at that stage, an associated member of the Judo Federation. In 1963, he invited six other known European federations (

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Switzerland and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) to come to France for the first-ever international karate event. Great Britain and Belgium accepted the invitation. By 1965, the European Karate Union was created with

voted in as President. The following year the first European Karate Championships were held in Paris. The event drew roughly three hundred spectators and was shown live on television. It drew criticism for being too violent as there were many facial injuries. The EKU council had differing opinions about the cause(s) of the injuries. With opinions ranging from excessive violations of rules to lack of conditioning and blocking skill, this problem was addressed in some part, at the first referee course held in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. At that time, the refereeing rules were harmonised using the JKA rules as a basis. The 2023 event was scheduled to be held in Moscow, Russia but the country was stripped of the right to host the event after the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

Championships

EKU Championships (1966–1992) and EKF Championships (since 1993). Para Karate was added to championships since 2018.

Medals

All-time medal table Karate (1966-2022)

The following reflects the all-time medal counts as of the 1966 European Karate Championships:

All-time medal table Para Karate (2018-2021)

The following reflects the all-time medal counts as of 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 ...

Medals table Europe Cadet, Junior and U21 (2000-2021)

The following reflects the all-time medal counts as of the 2000 European Karate Cadet, Junior and U21 Championships:

References

External links

European Karate Federation
{{European Championships Karate in Europe Karate competitions European championships Recurring sporting events established in 1966