The first edition of the Pan American Sports Festival is being successfully organized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) across different cities in Mexico.

The first edition of the Pan American Sports Festival is being successfully organized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) across different cities in Mexico. A total of 28 individual sport disciplines participate in this event, and Karate is one of them. 

At the occasion of the opening ceremony, numerous sport authorities and local authorities were present: PASO General Secretary Mrs Jimena Saldaña, PASO Technical Director Mr Reynaldo González, the President of the National Olympic Committee of Mexico, Mr Carlos Padilla Becerra, as well as the Governor of Tlaxcala, Mr Mariano González, were only some of them.

Prior to the start of Karate competitions, a Kumite course was organized for a total of 35 coaches of 17 different countries under the direction of Mr Gilles Cherdieu. Mr Cherdieu is currently Technical Advisor of the French Karate team and his focus during the course was essentially on prioritizing training with basic karate techniques, as a major tool for competition. Another important aspect that was highlighted during this course was the psychological component of competitors. The course had a duration of 3 hours during both 24th and 25th of July and was very well received by the attendants.

Karate competitions have taken place on 26th and 27th July and Mr William Millerson, PKF Honorary President, and Mr José García Maañón, PKF President, attended in representation of the PKF. Concerning the format of Karate competitions, it was structured in a similar way to the Pan American Games that will be held next year in Toronto (round robin system). You can find here the results for each category, as well as the medals table by country. The medals award ceremony counted with the presence of PASO Sports Director, Mr Horacio de la Vega.