Ivo Vukovic

From waiter in Saalbach to karate pioneer

Dad Ivo supports daughter Marina Vukovic as best he can.(Bild: Karate Insights)

A native Croatian made the sport of karate popular in Pinzgau. Now he is coaching his daughter Marina at the European Championships in his home country. We are talking about Ivo Vukovic, who came to Austria for a better life at the age of 21.

When Ivo Vukovic took over the karate club in Saalfelden, it had seven members. He now has five clubs in Pinzgau with a total of 300 members. The Croatian has made the sport of karate socially acceptable in his adopted country. "Karate is my life. When I was ten years old, I watched Bruce Lee films, and I started the sport when I was twelve. Now I've been doing it for 43 years," says Vukovic. When he came to the Alpine republic at the age of 21 and worked in catering in Saalbach, he could not have imagined that he would ever earn a living from it. He is now, among other things, the coach of Salzburg's greatest young hope: his daughter Marina.

Stefan Pokorny is also competing at the European Championships.(Bild: Martin Kremser)

Ivo and Marina Vukovic have already celebrated several successes together.(Bild: Marina Vukovic)

Ivo Vukovic lives with his daughter Marina.(Bild: Marina Vukovic)

The 2019 junior world champion (up to 68 kilos) will be competing at the European Championships in her second home country of Croatia from Wednesday. A top ten finish in Zadar would be a good result. "I'm very proud of Marina. She is really well prepared," says the coach's father confidently. Nevertheless, he regrets: "The problem is that she won't be joining the police or the army. It's sad that an up-and-coming world champion doesn't have a place there." The reason for this is that karate has not been included in the Olympic program since Tokyo 2021.

Alongside Vukovic, Stefan Pokorny (up to 75 kilos) is the most promising candidate for a place near the medals. "My form is good, I'm really looking forward to it." The Kuchler recently struggled with the judges' decisions. "I'm trying not to focus too much on that. Maybe it will work out for me this time." Basically, anything is possible for him, because "different rules apply at a major event."