Maria Peintner caused a sensation. © KARATE MUHLBACH

Karate Mühlbach exceeds all expectations

Karate Mühlbach won four gold, two silver, and one bronze medal at the Grand Prix Nazionale in Genzano di Roma (RM) over the weekend, far exceeding all expectations. More than 1000 athletes participated in this national karate tournament in the two disciplines of kumite (sparring) and kata (forms) – including seven athletes from Karate Mühlbach.

February 02, 2026

From: pm

“In Kumite, dreams came true,” said coaches Fabian and Martin Pezzei: Norbert Öttl (Master, up to blue belt) won gold in impressive fashion at his first national tournament. It was also a premiere for Anna Gallmetzer (students, brown and black belts, -47kg) and Maria Peintner (students, brown and black belts, -42kg), who competed for the first time in a national competition in the brown and black belt category.

Both impressively demonstrated their talent, fighting intelligence, and potential, winning gold and even receiving high praise from their opponents' coaches. Jakob Silgoner (Seniors, up to blue belt, -74kg) also won gold – he too competed in his first national competition.

“The intensive and focused preparation of the last few months has paid off, and our expectations have been far exceeded,” said Pezzei, who was particularly pleased for Jonas Malleier (Junior, up to blue belt, -50kg), who won silver. Malleier also competed in his first national tournament, showing impressive fights in the preliminary rounds, then surpassing himself in the semi-finals, only narrowly losing 4-3 in the final. The podium was out of reach for Florian Fischnaller (Seniors, brown and black belts, -80kg) and Lorenz Mantinger (Seniors, brown and black belts, -68kg), who, despite strong performances, had to settle for seventh place.

In kata, Jonas Malleier (junior, yellow and orange belts) surprised everyone and made a strong statement with his silver medal. Maria Peintner won bronze, competing for the first time in the brown and black belt category; Anna Gallmetzer (junior, brown and black belts) narrowly missed the podium, finishing in sixth place.

“Admittedly, the training went exactly according to plan, the athletes remained injury-free and we were able to implement our training program exactly as we had envisioned – but that it is going so well is hard to believe and motivates us to continue working in the same focused and goal-oriented manner,” said Pezzei.