Dominican Republic wins gold in team kata and María Dimitrova announces her retirement from competitions

8SANTO DOMINGO. The Dominican Republic returned to the top of the podium in the karate tournament of the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games Santo Domingo 2026, by winning the gold medal this Thursday in the women’s team kata category.

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The Dominican team, composed of María Dimitrova, Belén Guzmán, Perla Peralta, and Carla Espejo, prevailed in the grand final against the Venezuelan representative, in the matches held at Combat Pavilion 1 of the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center.

The Dominican women offered an impeccable demonstration of synchronization, precision, and technical execution during their performance of the Papuren kata, a performance that allowed them to win the title with the support of the Dominican crowd.

The award represents an important contribution to the national medal count and confirms the great moment that Dominican karate is experiencing at the regional event, a discipline that has responded with an outstanding harvest of medals for the host delegation.

María Dimitrova once again led the national team with the experience that has made her one of the greatest exponents of kata in the region, accompanied by Belén Guzmán, Perla Peralta, and Carla Espejo, who completed an outstanding performance to give the country a new gold medal.

After winning the team championship, Dimitrova announced that she will end her competitive career once her participation in the Santo Domingo 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games concludes, closing a career full of successes and becoming one of the most iconic athletes in the history of Dominican karate.

With this result, the Dominican Republic continues to strengthen its gold medal haul at Santo Domingo 2026, consolidating karate as one of the highest-performing disciplines for the national delegation.