Gérard Galinski, V. Dan, has extensive experience in World Championships, his first participation was in Korea 2004 as Team Support. President of the German-ITF since 2013, he tells us about his team’s preparation and expectations for this upcoming ITF World Championships 2022.
How are you preparing?
We have been preparing for the ITF World Championships 2022 since late summer (Northern Hemisphere) last year. The black belt group consisted of 15 to 20 athletes. The athletes knew from the very first training session that it would be very strenuous. They all tried to seize their opportunity. Just before Christmas 2021 a selection was made and the group became smaller. One thing made organizing and executing training times very difficult, was and is Covid-19. We have learned to deal with it. Now, a few weeks before the World Championships, we train twice a week and hope to start soon.
What are your expectations of this World Cup?
Well, we try to make it as normal as possible and of course we want to win medals with our athletes. We have been training very intensely for this for months. We hope to start soon. Fair and exciting sporting events, and what is very important to us is that we deepen friendships or make new ones.
Which countries do you see as the main entertainers of the competition?
Of course we know that England, Argentina, USA, Canada, Australia will bring strong teams, as well as Spain, Ireland, Italy and also the host country The Netherlands. I’m sure there will be surprises like in any great championship and athletes you don’t know yet will show great sporting achievements.
My favorites are clearly England, Argentina, Canada, Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands. I think these countries will dominate the World Cup. I am sure that at one point or another we will also have a lot to talk about about our team.
The Master Galisnki also highlights the team of coaches who prepared the delegation for this World Cup. “Our German team has four coaches. I am one of them and, with the support of other coaches, we have trained and prepared our athletes in all disciplines.”