Karate
Facts
| Discipline of | Karate |
|---|---|
| Participants | 81 |
| NOCs | 36 |
| Competitions held | 8 (Venues) |
| Distinct events | 14 |
| IF | World Karate Federation |
Description
Karate is an Oriental martial art that developed primarily on the Japanese island of Okinawa, but quickly spread to China. There are multiple styles and schools of karate, but competitive karate is mostly held in the kata and kumite styles. Karate has been held at multiple regional Games and made its Olympic début on the programme of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, with eight events – a kata event for both men and women, and three weight classes of kumite for each gender. Being an optional sport for those Games, as of 2024 it has been the only edition of the Olympics in which the sport has been featured.
Karate World Championships have been held since 1970. As a competitive sport, karate is governed by the World Karate Federation (WKF), which had 200 member federations as of 2024.
All-time medal table
Olympic Games
| NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan |  JPN |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Spain |  ESP |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Egypt |  EGY |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Italy |  ITA |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Bulgaria |  BUL |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| France |  FRA |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Islamic Republic of Iran |  IRI |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Serbia |  SRB |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Azerbaijan |  AZE |
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Türkiye |  TUR |
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| People's Republic of China |  CHN |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Ukraine |  UKR |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |  KSA |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kazakhstan |  KAZ |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Austria |  AUT |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Chinese Taipei |  TPE |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Hong Kong, China |  HKG |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Hungary |  HUN |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jordan |  JOR |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| United States |  USA |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Youth Olympic Games
| NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | JPN |
1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Islamic Republic of Iran | IRI |
1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Belgium |  BEL |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Egypt | EGY |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | KSA |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Norway |  NOR |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Morocco |  MAR |
0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Russian Federation |  RUS |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Great Britain |  GBR |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ireland |  IRL |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Italy | ITA |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kazakhstan | KAZ |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| North Macedonia |  MKD |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Serbia | SRB |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Türkiye | TUR |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Uzbekistan |  UZB |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Most successful competitors
Olympic Games
| Athlete | Nat | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ivet Goranova | BUL |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Feryal Ashraf | EGY |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sandra Sánchez | ESP |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Steven Da Costa | FRA |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sajad Ganjzadeh | IRI |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Luigi Busà | ITA |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ryo Kiyuna | JPN |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jovana Preković | SRB |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| İrina Zaretska | AZE |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Rəfael Ağayev | AZE |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Yin Xiaoyan | CHN |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Damián Quintero | ESP |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kiyou Shimizu | JPN |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tareg Hamedi | KSA |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Eray Şamdan | TUR |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Anzhelika Terliuha | UKR |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Youth Olympic Games
| Athlete | Nat | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quentin Mahauden | BEL |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Navid Mohammadi | IRI |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mohammed Al-Assiri | KSA |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Yasmin Nasr El-Gewily | EGY |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kokoro Sakaji | JPN |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Annika Sælid | NOR |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Masaki Yamaoka | JPN |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Nabil Ech-Chaabi | MAR |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Yassine Sekouri | MAR |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Sakura Sawashima | JPN |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Rinka Tahata | JPN |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Anna Chernyshova | RUS |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Event types
| Name | Gender | Still contested? | Times held? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kata | Men | 1 | |
| Kumite, ≤67 kg | Men | 1 | |
| Kumite, ≤75 kg | Men | 1 | |
| Kumite, >75 kg | Men | 1 | |
| Kata | Women | 1 | |
| Kumite, ≤55 kg | Women | 1 | |
| Kumite, ≤61 kg | Women | 1 | |
| Kumite, >61 kg | Women | 1 | |
| Kumite, ≤61 kilograms | Boys | 1 | |
| Kumite, ≤68 kilograms | Boys | 1 | |
| Kumite, >68 kilograms | Boys | 1 | |
| Kumite, ≤53 kilograms | Girls | 1 | |
| Kumite, ≤59 kilograms | Girls | 1 | |
| Kumite, >59 kilograms | Girls | 1 |