Viviana Bottaro is an Italian karate athlete from Genoa who is largely celebrated as one of the most successful competitors in the female Kata category. She is one of five Italians who to qualify for the Olympic Games is a four time continental silver medallist and European Champion. In her last fifteen international appearances alone she has won a staggering ten medals.
At a very early age, Bottaro established herself as one of the most recognised kata athletes in Europe. At the 2005 European Cadet & Junior Championships she claimed gold at the Cadet Kata competition.
Bottaro won her first medal in senior categories seven years later, finishing third at the 2012 Karate 1 Hanau and scooping up the well-earned bronze medal. In the years to come, Bottaro’s strength and determination has landed her a total of 12 medals in Karate 1-Premier League events, as well as a recent gold at the Karate 1-Series A Santiago.
In 2018, Bottaro travelled to Istanbul, setting her sights firmly on the gold medal at the Karate 1-Premier League. She climbed to the top of the podium having defeated both the number one and two competitors from the World rankings; Japan’s Kiyou Shimizu and Spain’s Sandra Sanchez. Even at the continental level, Bottaro maintains an exciting rivalry with the latter athlete, the Spanish World ranking leader.
Now Bottaro eagerly anticipates the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where she has a strong chance to shine at the biggest sporting event in the world; a lifelong dream of hers.