Antonio Díaz
Eight straight world podiums, a Guinness record in kata
- Born
- June 12, 1980, Caracas, Venezuela
- Nationality
Venezuela- Style
- Shito-ryu kata technician
- Weight
- Kata
- Active
- 1998–2022
- Status
- Retired · age 46
The medals
2 world titles; 8 straight world medals (2002–2016)
The story
ntonio Díaz walked into the dojo of Shoko Sato, the first Japanese karate teacher in Venezuela, at six, and built a career in Shito-ryu kata that lasted two decades. He stood on the podium at eight straight World Championships from 2002 to 2016, a Guinness World Record, winning gold in 2010 by beating his great rival Luca Valdesi 4-1 and again in Paris in 2012, where he won every round without losing a flag. He also won two World Games titles and 16 Pan American championships. Having put off retirement for karate's Olympic debut, he carried Venezuela's flag in Tokyo at 41 and narrowly lost the bronze-medal bout. He made a final appearance at the 2022 World Games, his sixth.
- World champion, kata (2010, 2012)
- World silver (2008) and bronze (2002, 2004, 2006, 2014, 2016), kata
- World Games champion (2005, 2013)
- Pan American Games champion (2003, 2019)
- Pan American champion (16 titles)
- Guinness World Records: most individual medals at the World Karate Championships
- Venezuela's flag bearer at the Tokyo 2020 opening and closing ceremonies
Defining matches
- 2008LOSSvs Luca Valdesi (World Championships kata final, Tokyo, 2-3)
- 2010WINvs Luca Valdesi (World Championships kata final, Belgrade, 4-1)
- 2012WINvs Vu Duc Minh Dack (World Championships kata final, Paris, 5-0)
- 2016LOSSvs Ryo Kiyuna (World Championships kata semi-final, Linz, 2-3; won bronze)
- 2021LOSSvs Ariel Torres (Tokyo Olympic kata bronze bout, 26.34–26.72)
Win on technique, not youth: Díaz stayed on the world podium from 2002 to 2016 against younger, more athletic rivals. Film your kata, fix one detail at a time and keep a deep list of forms so you never have to perform a weak one.
2002–2016
