Karate: Scarfone and Echamaa, junior world champions at 17 and 16

France's Morgane Scarfone and Maryam Echamaa became junior world karate champions in mid-October in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, the first at -59 kg and the second at -53 kg. A month on, the French karate federation (FFK) has published a double profile, dated November 13, on where the two fighters come from and what the national youth coaching staff expects next.

Scarfone: from kata to kumite

Morgane Scarfone turns 18 on December 20. She started in Gonfaron, a town of about 5,000 people in the Var, in south-eastern France, and now trains at AS Brignoles and at the national training centre in Montpellier, where she has begun a sports science degree. She practised kata for eight years, in Shito-ryu and then Shotokan, before switching her focus to fighting about five years ago.

The world title is her first major international win, but her record was already long: five French national titles (two as a cadet, three as a junior), two third places at the senior French championships, bronze at the 2024 cadet World Championships, a Youth League win and silver at the 2026 junior European Championships. For Franck Bisson, national coach of the French youth teams, the result confirms what the staff expected. He describes her as technically very strong, mature and hard-working. Her stated goal is to win the French, European and world titles as a senior.

Echamaa: gold at her third international championship

Maryam Echamaa is 16 and still at secondary school. She took up karate at 5 and came through KC Béthoncourt, in the Doubs, near the Swiss border. She trains karate three times a week, adds athletics and strength work, and attends national team camps, where she works with Lamya Matoub.

Her rise has been quick. Seventh at the 2024 cadet Worlds, out in the second round of the 2025 Europeans, twice on the podium at the Venice Youth League (2024 and 2025), and French champion as a cadet and as a junior, she won world gold at only her third international championship. Bisson praises her seriousness, her fundamentals and how fast she applies instructions. She names Mehdi Filali and Steven Da Costa, the Tokyo Olympic champion, as her role models.

What the titles mean

The cadet, junior and under-21 World Championships are held every two years by the World Karate Federation (WKF). They are a benchmark for moving into senior squads, where places are harder to earn. The national staff has not given a precise schedule for the two champions, but the FFK points out that they will now be the ones to beat every time they compete.

At senior level, France competes at the team World Cup in Hangzhou, China, from November 20 to 22, with 17 selected athletes.