With the presence of the entire Spanish team (30 athletes including parakarate competitors), that until Monday it was concentrated in La Roda (Albacete), today the absolute European championship that is being played for this year has been presented in Guadalajara Wednesday and until next Sunday at the Palacio Multiusos de Guadalajara.
The Olympic runner-up Damián Quintero, the most successful of the current team, has represented the national team in a press conference with Alberto Rojo, mayor of the city, Alberto Rojo, the vice president of the Guadalajara Provincial Council, Sonsoles Rico, and the President of the Royal Spanish Karate Federation, Antonio Moreno..
For Quintero, competing again at home entails “some benefits on an emotional level for all athletes” and he thanked the efforts of the institutions and the Spanish Karate Federation for trying to promote this sport in the national territory and for betting on international events, which In this case, it brings together the 600 best athletes on the European scene that begins on Wednesday (10:00) and until Friday, the qualifiers for all karate and para-karate categories take place. On Saturday and Sunday it will be the turn of the finals of all categories that will be broadcast on Teledeporte.
All the authorities have agreed on the importance that an event of these characteristics has in the economic impact of the city of Guadalajara, estimated by the City Council in the city of two million euros.
Antonio Moreno, president of the RFEK, hopes that Spain will place first in the medal table of this European championship, with a group that includes Quintero, world champion Maria Torres, world runners-up Lidia Rodríguez and Sergio Galán, and Babacar Seck world bronze.