Dorota Banaszczyk has a habit of doing unexpected things. From silencing the boys in her class, who smiled when she started practicing karate at the age of seven, to showing her country, Poland, becoming the first Polish world champion in the sport last year.
The 22-year-old, now ranked sixth in the world in the 55kg category in kumite, will be among the medal favorites when karate makes its debut at the Tokyo Olympics next year. She was not rated as such in last year's World Cup, Koha Ditore reports the writing of Olympic.org.
Entering the competition in Madrid ranked 28th in the world, she walked away with the gold medal and the man of the tournament award.
"It was a big surprise to me," says Banaszczyk, but that was nothing compared to the reaction back home. "For the people in Poland it was a shock; my teammates couldn't believe what was happening, it was hard to believe. For the first time in the history of the world championships, we heard the national anthem of Poland. For Poland it was even more special as it all happened on the eve of the independence anniversary. When it comes to karate in Poland, unfortunately we don't have professional conditions. I have managed to make something out of nothing, actually alone with the coach and a small group of people. We deserved this success and proved that if you really want, then you can fulfill your dreams. Now we are working hard for the next step, which is to participate in the Olympic Games in Tokyo."
Hailing from the industrial city of Lodz in central Poland, Banaszczyk seemed destined for karate, although at first she had little encouragement from some of her peers...(You can read the full article today in "Koha Ditore")
