20 years ago, he was competing in his 1st Paris Open. Since, he has been a two-time World champion (2010, 2012) and won... 8 medals in a row at the World championships (from 2002 to 2016).

At 39, Antonio Diaz continues to illuminate the competitions with his smile and his kindness and is, to date, qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

He met Michael Milon, lived the beginnings of Aghayev, has been confronted with Kiyuna, loves Suparinpei… He tells us about it. This is the Hajime interview !

By Ludovic Mauchien / Photos : Kphotos / DR

He started his career in a time that the under 20s cannot know. Another time, where the heroes were called Abe and Milon in Kata, Otto, Biamonti, Leal… in Kumite. Since then, the twentieth century has gone away, point scoring too. He is still there. He is the dinosaur of the international circuit.

Antonio Diaz, 39, continues to skim tatami mats around the world. And quite well, since he is currently 6th in the Standing and, above all, 3rd non-Japanese, therefore qualified for the Olympic Games, the only reason why he continued his long and rich career.

Venezuela’s Antonio Diaz could have stopped after his 2nd World title, in Bercy, in 2012, in front of 15,000 spectators. But pleasure then prevailed. After competing with with Michael Milon, Luca Valdesi, he has then confronted his Kata with Ryo Kiyuna. 3rd in the 2014 and 2016 Worlds, he was going to retire when Karate became Olympic. Such a champion could not miss such an adventure.

We met him during the K1 Madrid in late November, where he was accompanied by his wife and little baby. He opened the ban for our new interview Hajime. Suparinpei or Chatanyara ? Michael Milon, Damian Quintero or Ryo Kiyuna ? Rafael Aghayev or Luigi Busa ? Kihon or Kata ?... He says it all...