Another European Championship participation for karateka Christopher Mack

At this year's European Universities Karate Championships from 25-27 July 2017 in Coimbra/Portugal, 228 athletes representing 75 universities from 18 countries competed.

As karate will be represented at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo for the first time, this championship was also attended by many top athletes and confirmed the high technical level.

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) was worthily represented at this biennial championship by Christopher Mack. He is a Master's student of sports science and a research assistant at the Chair of Applied Psychology at the Sports Institute at KIT. Born in Karlsruhe, he has been practicing karate for 21 years, holds the 3rd Dan and qualified for the European University Championships in his main discipline, kata individual, once again after 2013. For Mack, this was a highlight not only because of his sporting ambition, but also because of his commitment in this area. The 30-year-old sports student is also a member of the BW state squad and coach of the talent base in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region, where he shares his knowledge from his studies and his experience from competitions with the young athletes.

On the day of the tournament, Mack faced Great Britain in his first match. "I had a good and confident feeling after my kata," said the Karlsruhe native. Nevertheless, it was not enough to prevail against his opponent in Portugal, who speculatively opted for the highest kata (Unsu). The Englishman then faced the internationally renowned national squad athlete Nagy Botond from Hungary and lost by a very narrow margin of 2:3 flags. As a result, Mack could no longer hope to reach the consolation round and was eliminated despite a good performance.

Link to the start: https: //www.facebook.com/Karate.Mack/videos/1623493974358695/

Mack is extremely satisfied and confident after his sporting highlight: "The preparation went well and I gave it my all, so winning isn't everything. I think it's more about the passion with which you pursue your goal and develop your personality in the process." Master's student Christopher Mack draws a positive balance from his sporting career to date and thanks the following supporters for their support for the European Student Championships:

Institute of Sport and Sport Science / University Sports KIT

Karlsruhe School and Sports Office

Karate Association Baden-Württemberg

Budo-Club Karlsruhe

Budo-Club Rhine-Neckar

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Further information can be found at: https: //www.facebook.com/Karate.Mack/