Every day the International World Games Association awards prizes for the male and female IWGA Athlete of the Day - powered by Tissot! Today, the jury of experts has selected Karateka Kiyou Shimizu (JPN) and Orienteer Matthias Kyburz (SUI).
Kiyou Shimizu defeated Sandra Sanchez in Female Kata final and claimed her eleventh gold medal in eleven international appearances. At only 23 years old, Shimizu is two-time world champion and has never lost a single bout in nearly six years of international career. Ever since her debut at the World Junior, Cadet & U21 Championships in 2011, Shimizu has always claimed gold in all international competitions. This tally of awards confirms her status of one of the biggest stars of today's Karate and one of the stars of Karate in the Olympic debut of the sport at her home-town of Tokyo in 2020.
Matthias Kyburz (SUI) won all races at The World Games 2013 in Cali, Colombia. 4-time World Champion, he was one of the favourites on all the distances in Wroclaw as well. He finished “only” third in Sprint yesterday, but recovered quickly and won the Middle Distance today. He made one 30 second mistake to during the second part of the course, but his speed through the terrain meant he managed to win his fourth World Games gold. Tomorrow his team, Switzerland, is one of the favourites in the Mixed Relay, where every team consists of two women and two men.