From October 9 to 13, the city of Lido di Jesolo in Italy hosted the World Championship for cadets, juniors, and youth. This event, held near Venice, attracted over 2000 young athletes from 117 countries, marking a new record.

The Ukrainian team included 38 athletes representing 17 clubs from 9 regions of the country, including 8 competitors from Odesa.

15-year-old Odesa karateka Maksym Vechkanov (Royal Team, coached by Volodymyr Zaretskyi and Oleksii Konovalov) became the champion in the cadet category under 52 kg.

The gold medal at the World Championship adds to the silver medal he won at the European Championship in February this year.

This is the fourth medal (second gold and first in cadet competitions) for athletes from the Odesa region in the history of youth world championships.