Fordingbridge teenager Thomas Klemz wins prestigious World Karate Federation (WKF) Junior European Championships gold medal
FORDINGBRIDGE-based martial artist Thomas Klemz continues to shine on the international stage, becoming a World Karate Federation (WKF) junior European champion in Bielsko Biala, Poland.
The 17-year-old karate specialist, who competes for the French national team, dominated the final. In front of a home crowd, he defeated Polish martial artist Patryk Wittek, winning the match 40.2 to 42.8.
The Burgate School pupil, who spent 10 days at the 2025 European Karate Championships, had a challenging route to the final, taking on seventh-placed Edin Suljevic from Bosnia & Herzegovina, the Czech Republic’s Jakub Zlabek, who finished fifth, and third-placed Tomas Lopez, who has world silver medal to his name, before defeating silver medallist Wittek in the final.
This stunning performance was the culmination of months of hard work. The delighted teenager attended four training camps with the French karate squad while working hard in his personal training, with the sole objective of winning the European championship.
“I am so proud to have won this medal for France,” said Tom Klemz. “And I feel really fortunate to be surrounded by such an amazing team – my club coaches, Marc and Yves Ruelle @ckspayscreçois, my physical coach, my mental coach and all the French team coaches.
“Although it is hard work to combine intense training and school studies, I make sure I keep on track and am so excited about the future!”
Sixth-form student Klemz was a dual-national athlete, able to compete for France and Great Britain, but he now solely competes for France. He studies maths and further maths and physics and hopes to study maths at a university in France after taking his exams.
