RECAP: 2024 Karate North American Open
04/04/2024
AAU and WUKF join forces for the 2024 North American Open in Las Vegas2024 Karate North American Open
Dates: March 29-31, 2024
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Event Page | Medal Report | Results | Images
LAS VEGAS (April 4, 2024) – The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and the World Union of Karate-Do Federations (WUKF) joined forces again to host the 2024 North American Open in Las Vegas. An international karate tournament, some of the top karateka from around the world came to showcase their skill.
The Horseshoe at Caesar’s Events Center played host to athletes from 22 countries who traveled to the entertainment capital of the world and bet on themselves. The event took place from March 29 – 31 and welcomed athletes of all rank, style, dojo, and federation affiliations.
They say “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” but for a lucky few, AAU medals were brought home. Hiro Karate captured the most medals overall during the event with 23 Gold, 12 Silver and 28 Bronze. Clubs that participate in AAU were not far behind. Karate Northwest was in the top three (3) with 13 gold medals, Fonseca Martial Arts captured 33 total medals, Midwest Karate-Do Association brought home 19 medals, and many more.
To see the full Medals Report for each team, click here.
AAU Karate National Team members were also there to represent. Mateo Latic, of Karate School Dragon, earned the gold medal in the KU-105 Sanbon Kumite Advanced, 21–35-year-old division. Allison Lazos, of IKF Long Beach, won gold in the KB-131 Kobudo Short Advanced, 16–17-year-old division. Amiyr Gordon, of Axsom Martial Arts, claimed gold in the KB-91A Kobudo Long Advanced, 15-year-old division. Ryland Volker anchored his team, the Horizon Hawks, to a gold medal in the TK-003 Team Rotational Kumite for 16–17-year-olds.
For a full list of individual results, click here.
AAU President, Jo Mirza, and WUKF President, Dr. Liviu Crisan, hosted the event as Tournament Presidents. One of the first AAU/WUKF Karate events hosted in Las Vegas was a major success, with the tournament reaching capacity and spectators lining up around every ring.
Thank you to all of the coaches, officials, parents, spectators, and athletes who represented the AAU in Las Vegas. An amazing event like this would not be possible without you. We are already preparing for next year!
To check out some of the best moments from the weekend in Vegas, follow AAU Karate on Facebook. And stay up to date with everything coming up in AAU Karate – visit aaukarate.org.
ABOUT AAU:
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is one of the largest, non-profit, volunteer sports event organizations in the country. As a multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports programs. Founded in 1888 to establish standards and uniformity in sports, the AAU philosophy of “Sports For All, Forever” is now shared by more than 770,000 members and 150,000 volunteers across 45 sports programs and 55 U.S. districts. For more information, visit www.aausports.org.
ABOUT WUKF:
The World Union of Karate-Do Federations (WUKF) is a democratic non-profit making international sport Karate body and one of the largest in the world. Our organisation exists to provide high-level Karate competition for athletes worldwide and membership is open to all organisations and federations who believe in our values.