National karate player Uğur Aktaş said about the removal of the karate branch from the Olympic Games, “We had a very good process before the Olympics. We crowned this success in the Olympics in a good way and we introduced karate to our country in a good way. People followed karate in the Olympics. They gave us very good feedback, which made us very happy. However, we were a little upset that we did not take part in the next Olympics, namely the Paris Olympics this year. It lowered our motivation.”
Karate 1 Premier League competitions will be held in Casablanca, Morocco between May 31 and June 2. 380 athletes from 60 countries will compete in the three-day competitions. Turkey will be represented by 21 athletes, 9 of them women, in the organization. Uğur Aktaş, who won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and will take the tatami at -84 kg in the Premier League, held a preparation camp at Anda Barut Collection in Didim before the organization. Uğur Aktaş made special statements to Demirören News Agency (DHA) here.
Uğur Aktaş stated that they represented Turkey in the best way at the Tokyo Olympic Games, but then they experienced the bitterness of the removal of the karate branch from the Olympics and said, “It was my first Olympics for me, but it may be the last Olympics for karate. It may be the first and the last, we don’t know right now. We had a very good process before the Olympics. We crowned our success in the Olympics and introduced karate to our country in a good way. People followed karate at the Olympics. They gave us very good feedback, which made us very happy. But the fact that we did not take part in the next Olympics, the Paris Olympics this year, made us a little sad. It lowered our motivation because the Olympics is a big organization that is watched by many people in many countries, even by people who are not interested in sports. When you don’t take part here, of course, the feedback for you is to be in the spotlight, to make people watch your sport, your popularity decreases a little bit more, but we have to bury this sadness inside us somehow. Because; European Championships, World Championships, Mediterranean Games, Istanbul Games, European Games, big tournaments like these are going on, so I am trying and will try to represent the flag on my chest in the best way possible in those tournaments. Of course, not having an Olympics is a very, very big disappointment for us. Sometimes we feel as if we have been relegated to the background, but the sport we do is very valuable. We brought 4 medals to our country in the Olympics and achieved a historical success. If we could go this year, I was looking at it as a guaranteed medal when we evaluated it from the outside.”
“GOLD MEDAL IN THESE OLYMPICS WOULD BE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT”
Stating that if karate had not been excluded from the Olympics, Turkey would definitely have won the gold medal in this branch this year, the national karate player said, “Our gold medal would be one hundred percent. Since it was our first Olympics, the first Olympics of karate and our first time in such a platform, of course, created excitement for us. I had a small injury in the semifinal. Otherwise, I went there as the leader. I was very assertive about it, but of course, as a result of the match that ended, I was defeated as a result of the slightest injury and our opponent getting the first point. There could have been a gold medal there, but with that experience and the experience we gained after that and the matches we made after that, I thought it could have been much different if we had taken part in the Olympics this year. Let’s call it fate, but I want to represent my country as best as I can in the European and world championships and become the world champion.”
“EVEN IF THERE IS NO OLYMPICS, I WILL REPRESENT OUR COUNTRY IN THE BEST WAY WHEREVER WE ARE”
Stating that they go to the World Championships by competing in the Premier League, Aktaş said, “The highest step for us is the World Championship. We are already participating in the Premier League. There is a Premier League in Morocco. In this way, we are going to the World Championship by participating in Premier Leagues. The top 32 will take part there. It will be a quality and beautiful World Championship. Maybe it will be the most difficult championship in history, so for me the next world championship is also important. Even if there is no Olympics, I will represent our country in the best way wherever we are, on every platform we compete.”
