Karate: Steven Da Costa will fight to defend his gold medal at the Paris Games

It's a new fight that begins for Steven Da Costa.

Perhaps his biggest challenge.

And this time the power of his blows will not be able to do anything.

A week after winning a historic gold medal at the Tokyo Games in the categories of less than 67 kilos in kumite - which he celebrated with a spectacular back flip - the world number 1 in karate is determined to do anything implement to see his discipline represented at the Paris Olympics in three years.

He announced it in a message on his social networks this Wednesday noon.

“I trained like hell.

I took on my favorite role.

I brought the gold back to France.

I carried the flag high.

I was on cloud nine.

Waking up hurts.

In 2024, with your support, I want to defend my Olympic title in Paris ”, warns the one who was the standard bearer of the French delegation during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Games.

📣

I trained like hard.

I took on my favorite role.

I brought the gold back to France.

I carried the flag high.

I was on cloud nine.

Waking up hurts.

In 2024, with your support, I want to defend my Olympic title in Paris.

🇫🇷🥋 https://t.co/jQBE8KyLtp pic.twitter.com/QLCLeJ4tPK

- Steven Da Costa (@Steven_DaCosta) August 11, 2021

The message from the 24-year-old French champion is accompanied by a link to an interview given earlier this week by Tony Estanguet at the microphone of France Info. During this interview, the president of the organizing committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and Paralympics explained the decision, announced in February 2019, to exclude karate from the Olympic program in favor of surfing, climbing, skateboarding and breaking. "" We had the possibility of adding four sports, said Estanguet. By looking for urban sports such as skateboarding and break dancing, we are going to look for sports that are successful on social networks and that young people watch a lot. Surfing and climbing bring a very spectacular dimension that is different from the sports already on the program. "

Criteria that seem to meet karate according to Da Costa. His final fight against the Turkish Eray Samdan had also achieved a good audience. A week after his coronation, the kid from Mont-Saint-Martin (Meurthe-et-Moselle) is determined not to be the only French Olympic champion in the history of his discipline. His fight has only just begun. The controversy too.