Bettina Plank

Bettina Plank (born 24 February 1992) is an Austrian karateka. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's 55 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She is a two-time bronze medalist in the women's 50kg event at the World Karate Championships and a three-time medalist, including two gold medals, at the European Games.

Plank also won the gold medal in her event at the 2015 European Karate Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

Career

Plank won one of the bronze medals in the women's kumite 50kg event at the 2011 European Karate Championships held in Zürich, Switzerland. In 2014, she won the silver medal in her event at the European Karate Championships held in Tampere, Finland.

In 2015, Plank won the gold medal in the women's kumite 50kg event at the European Karate Championships held in Istanbul, Turkey. She also won one of the bronze medals in the women's team kumite event. In that same year, Plank won the silver medal in that event at the European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. In the final, she lost against Serap Özçelik of Turkey. She also won one of the bronze medals in the women's team kumite event. She won one match and lost two matches in the elimination round and she did not advance to compete in the semi-finals.

At the 2019 European Games held in Minsk, Belarus, Plank won the gold medal in the women's kumite 50kg event. She defeated Serap Özçelik of Turkey in her gold medal match.

In June 2021, Plank competed at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Paris, France hoping to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She did not qualify at this tournament but she was able to qualify via continental representation soon after. At the Olympics, she won one of the bronze medals in the women's 55kg event. In her second match, she lost against Shara Hubrich of Germany and she was then eliminated in the repechage by Kateryna Kryva of Ukraine. She also competed in the women's team kumite event. She defeated Erminia Perfetto of Italy in her gold medal match. Plank competed in the women's 50kg event at the 2023 World Karate Championships held in Budapest, Hungary where she was eliminated in her second match.

Achievements