W.A.K.O. European Championships 1998 in Leverkusen were the joint fourteenth European kickboxing championships (the other was held in Kyiv the same year) hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization and the fourth championships (world and European) to be held in Germany. The event was open to amateur men and women based in Europe only and there were just the two styles on offer; Full-Contact and Light-Contact kickboxing. By the end of the championships Russia was by far the dominant nation in terms of medals won, with Poland second and Hungary third. The event was held in Leverkusen, Germany over six days starting on Tuesday, 1 December and ending on Sunday, 6 December 1998.
Full-Contact
Full-Contact is a form of kickboxing where fights are won primarily by stoppage or points decision, with kicks and punches allowed above the waist, although unlike professional kickboxing fighters had to wear head and body protection - more detail on the rules are available on the W.A.K.O. website. At Leverkusen the men had twelve weight classes ranging from 51 kg/112.2 lbs to over 91 kg/+200.2 lbs, while the women had six, ranging from 48 kg/105.6 lbs to over 65 kg/+143 lbs. Notable medalists included Robert Nowak, Almaz Gismeev and future female boxing legend Natascha Ragosina who had all won gold medals back at the last European championships in Belgrade. By the championships end Russia was the strongest nation overall in Full-Contact, winning five golds, three silvers and three bronzes.
Men's Full-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table
Light Bantamweight -51 kgMerguen Mongush Gabor Aburko Damian Ławniczak Kuvat Kurbanov Bantamweight -54 kgFrancesco De Luca Milisav Ilic Kenneth Johansen Alexandre Fedozov Featherweight -57 kgThomas Karlsson Fouad Habbani Armen Ohanyan Laszco Velsei Lightweight -60 kgMuzaffer Tosun Artur Sergeev Daniel Korner Zoubahir Mamoudi Light Welterweight -63.5 kgDosaev Gani Gyoergy Bugyik Giuseppe Lorusso Marco Seifert Welterweight -67 kgGiga Kordzadze Sven Kirsten Terje Arildsen Roman Bashkaton Light Middleweight -71 kgRobert Nowak Khalmurad Izmailov Mikhail Plotnikov Lasylo Barany Middleweight -75 kgZoran Stanković Andreas Tuft Gerard Zdziarski Roman Chmil Light Heavyweight -81 kgAleksei Solovjov Viktor Savchenko Mittally Tiszai Roman Dakolinsh Cruiserweight -86 kgIgor Pylypenko Petri Reima Dmitri Sobennicov Attila Sarkoezi Heavyweight -91 kgElvir Behlulovic Gergely Csölle Ramazi Kikalishvili Lubos Koptak Super Heavyweight +91 kgAlmaz Gismeev Patrik Matejka Vlatko Sorola Vladyslav Chornyi
Women's Full-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table
Bantamweight -48 kgVeronique Legras Alina Shaternikova Erzsebet Borosi Giovanna Neglia Featherweight -52 kgChristine de Ruggiero Helena Karpatchyova Oksana Ivasiva Edyta Olewniczak Lightweight -56 kgTatyana Chalaj Viktoria Rudenko Iwona Guzowska Heidi Hutari Middleweight -60 kgJulia Voskoboinik Anna Kasprzak Elza Midzic Tatyana Alalutdinova Light Heavyweight -65 kgAgnieszka Rylik Zulfiya Kutdyusova Suzana Stunja Tanja Vujic Heavyweight +65 kgNatascha Ragosina Ivana Derdic Bojava Trajkovic Marianne Antersberger
Light-Contact
Light-Contact is a form of kickboxing that is less physical than Full-Contact but more so than Semi-Contact and is often seen as an intermediate step between the two. Fights are generally won by points scored on the basis of speed and technique over brute force and both fighters must wear head and body protection - more detail on Light-Contact rules can be found on the official W.A.K.O. website. The men had eight weight divisions ranging from 57 kg/125.4 lbs to over 89 kg/+195.8 lbs while the women had five ranging from 50 kg/110 lbs to over 65 kg/143 lbs. The most notable winner was Tomaž Barada who added to the gold he won at the last European championships. By the end of the event Hungary was the top nation overall in Light-Contact with two golds, six silvers and two bronze medals.
Men's Light-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table
-57 kgRafal Kaluzny Dezső Debreczeni Diego Bianco Denis Van Ngoc -63 kgTomaž Barada Antonio Coletta Dawid Kowalski Che Deane -69 kgAlexander Starostin Oliver Stricz Aleksandr Sukhoviy Andreas Hahn -74 kgBoris Zalyotkin Tamas Hudoba Sergey Zaharchuk Darren Duncan -79 kgZoltan Dancso Alexei Zalyotkin Roland Conar Miroslav Sobotka -84 kgMartin Albers Laszlo Toth Bartolomeo Bonvino Muhammad Ali Durmaz -89 kgKlaus Wilkinson Zsolt Molnar Radek Nekvinda Michal Wszolek +89 kgMichael Kruckenhauser István Tóth Gianmario Franchina Jacek Puchacz
Women's Light-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table
-50 kgSzilvia Csicsely Sonia De Biase Marie Laure Miviere Julita Tkaczyk -55 kgBianca Tapilatu Rita Pesuth Stephanie Rzehak Adriana Popa -60 kgEmanuela Amisani Lisa Palme Judit Gal Monika Florek -65 kgMarianne Klemmstein Lidiya Sharapova Petra Hochstrasser Csilla Bodoe +65 kgSallie McArdle Anja Renfordt Katarzyna Balcerzar Annalisa Ghilardi
Overall Medals Standing (Top 5)
Ranking Country Gold Silver Bronze 1 Russia 7 5 3 2 Poland 3 1 11 3 Hungary 2 7 6 4 Germany 2 2 6 4 Italy 2 2 6 5 France 2 1 1
See also List of WAKO Amateur European Championships List of WAKO Amateur World Championships
References
External links WAKO World Association of Kickboxing Organizations Official Site