From October 9 to 13, the city of Lido di Jesolo (Italy) hosted the World Championship for cadets, juniors, and youth. This tournament in the suburbs of Venice gathered a record 2000 young athletes from 117 countries.
The Ukrainian team featured 38 athletes representing 17 clubs from 9 regions of the country, including 8 from Odessa.
Fifteen-year-old Odessa karateka Maxim Vechkanov (SK Royal Team, coached by Volodymyr Zaretsky and Oleksiy Konovalov) became the world champion in the cadet category up to 52 kg.
Maxim Vechkanov added the gold medal from the world championship to the silver he won at the European Championship in February this year.
This marks the fourth medal (second gold and first in cadet competitions) for athletes from the region in the history of youth world championships.
