Elena Quirici

Elena Quirici (born 16 February 1994)^[1] is a Swiss karateka. She is a two-time medalist at the World Karate Championships and a seven-time medalist, including four golds, at the European Karate Championships.

Elena Quirici

Elena Quirici in 2018
Personal information
Born	(1994-02-16) 16 February 1994 (age 30)
Sport
Country	Switzerland
Sport	Karate
Weight class	68 kg
Events	Kumite Team kumite
Medal record Women's karate Representing  Switzerland World Championships 2023 Budapest Kumite 68 kg 2012 Paris Kumite 61 kg European Games 2023 Kraków-Małopolska Kumite 68 kg 2019 Minsk Kumite 68 kg European Championships 2016 Montpellier Kumite 68 kg 2018 Novi Sad Kumite 68 kg 2018 Novi Sad Team kumite 2023 Guadalajara Kumite 68 kg 2015 Istanbul Kumite 68 kg 2019 Guadalajara Kumite 68 kg 2024 Zadar Kumite 68 kg

Quirici represented Switzerland at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.^[2] She competed in the women's +61 kg event.^[2] Quirici is also a two-time medalist at the European Games.

Career

At the 2012 World Karate Championships held in Paris, France, Quirici won one of the bronze medals in the women's kumite 61 kg event. In 2015, she won the silver medal in the women's kumite 68 kg event at the European Karate Championships held in Istanbul, Turkey. In that same year, Quirici lost her bronze medal match in the women's kumite 68 kg event at the 2015 European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The following year, she won the gold medal in this event at the 2016 European Karate Championships held in Montpellier, France.

In 2017, Quirici competed in the women's kumite 68 kg event at the World Games held in Wrocław, Poland.^[3] She lost two matches and drew one match in the elimination round and she did not advance to the semi-finals.^[3]

At the 2018 European Karate Championships held in Novi Sad, Serbia, she won the gold medal in the women's kumite 68 kg event and also the gold medal in the women's team kumite event.^[4]

Quirici won one of the bronze medals in the women's kumite 68 kg event at the 2019 European Games held in Minsk, Belarus.^[5][6] Four years earlier, she lost her bronze medal match in the women's kumite 68 kg event at the 2015 European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

In March 2020, Quirici was scheduled to represent Switzerland in karate at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.^[7][8] This changed in March 2021 after the World Karate Federation revised the system for Olympic qualification.^[9] In June 2021, she was able to regain her qualification status at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Paris, France.^[10][11] Quirici finished in third place in her pool during the pool stage in the women's +61 kg event and she did not advance to compete in the semifinals.^[2] She was the flag bearer for Switzerland during the closing ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[12] In November 2021, she competed in the women's 68 kg event at the World Karate Championships held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates where she was eliminated in her third match by Alisa Buchinger of Austria.^[13]

Quirici competed in the women's kumite 68 kg event at the 2022 European Karate Championships held in Gaziantep, Turkey.^[14] She was eliminated in her second match by eventual bronze medalist Vasiliki Panetsidou of Greece.^[14] Quirici also competed in the women's kumite 68 kg event at the 2022 World Games held in Birmingham, United States.^[15]

Quirici won the gold medal in the women's 68 kg event at the 2023 European Karate Championships held in Guadalajara, Spain. She defeated Irina Zaretska of Azerbaijan in her gold medal match. A few months later, Quirici lost against Irina Zaretska in the final of the women's 68 kg event at the 2023 European Games held in Poland.^[16][17] She won the silver medal in the women's 68 kg event at the World Karate Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.^[18][19]

She won the silver medal in the women's 68 kg event at the 2024 European Karate Championships held in Zadar, Croatia.^[20]

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Rank	Event
2012	World Championships	Paris, France	3rd	Kumite 61 kg
2015	European Championships	Istanbul, Turkey	2nd	Kumite 68 kg
2016	European Championships	Montpellier, France	1st	Kumite 68 kg
2018	European Championships	Novi Sad, Serbia	1st	Kumite 68 kg
			1st	Team kumite
2019	European Championships	Guadalajara, Spain	2nd	Kumite 68 kg
	European Games	Minsk, Belarus	3rd	Kumite 68 kg
2023	European Championships	Guadalajara, Spain	1st	Kumite 68 kg
	European Games	Kraków and Małopolska, Poland	2nd	Kumite 68 kg
	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	2nd	Kumite 68 kg
2024	European Championships	Zadar, Croatia	2nd	Kumite 68 kg

References

1. "Entry List by NOC" (PDF). 2017 World Games. (PDF) from the original on 6 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
2. "Karate Results Book" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. (PDF) from the original on 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
3. "Karate Results" (PDF). 2017 World Games. (PDF) from the original on 24 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
4. "2018 European Karate Championships" (PDF). World Karate Federation. (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
5. Rowbottom, Mike (29 June 2019). "Spain take three golds on opening day of karate competition at Minsk 2019". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
6. "Karate Medalists" (PDF). 2019 European Games. (PDF) from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
7. "WKF announces first qualified athletes for Tokyo 2020". WKF.net. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
8. Shefferd, Neil (18 March 2020). "World Karate Federation announces first 40 karatekas to have qualified for Tokyo 2020". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
9. "Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 qualification system revised". World Karate Federation. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
10. Berkeley, Geoff (13 June 2021). "Gaysinsky among last six karateka to qualify for Tokyo 2020 after Canada protest". Inside the Games. Dunsar Media. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
11. Probst, Martin (13 June 2021). "Quirici löst das Olympiaticket ein zweites Mal: «Egal wie schwer der Weg ist, man kann es schaffen»". bz Basel (in German). Retrieved 13 June 2021.
12. "List of closing ceremony flag bearers" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. (PDF) from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
13. "2021 World Karate Championships Results Book" (PDF). World Karate Federation. (PDF) from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
14. . ucarecdn.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
15. (PDF). 2022 World Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
16. Burke, Patrick (23 June 2023). "Spain strike with treble taekwondo triumph at Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
17. . European Karate Federation. 23 June 2023. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
18. Berkeley, Geoff (28 October 2023). "Hárspataki loses dramatic final as Ukrainian shuns Russian on podium at Karate World Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
19. . Sportdata.org. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
20. . Sportdata. Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elena Quirici.

• Elena Quirici at KarateRec.com 
• Elena Quirici at Olympedia 
• Elena Quirici at the International World Games Association