The last prestigious tournament of his career will be the world’s second toughest karate league competition in Salzburg, Austria in September.
Finland’s most successful karateka, Titta Keinänen, will not continue to next year’s World Championships in Cairo. This season, Keinänen’s season started promisingly. In April, he first won the doubles championship at the Vääksy SC, the following weekend a gold medal at the Nordic and Baltic championships, and the third weekend a bronze medal at the Cairo Premier League. However, the European Championship in Croatia in May ended in disappointment, as the tournament already ended in the qualifying competition.
– The biggest flame of fighting has started to fade and it feels strongly that it is time to turn the page. I never say “never”, but now I don’t see any possibility that Keinänen will be seen at the 2025 World Cup. My strong feeling is that I will no longer be a top athlete in karate.
In the middle of September, a two-day competition of the second toughest league in karate, Serie A, will be organized in Salzburg, Austria. It will be the last ranking competition of Keinänen’s career.
30 years old, born on October 28, 1993.
Has represented the Euran Karate Club throughout his career, where he started training at the age of 9.
Quit karate at 16, started again at 20.
Competes in the over 68 kg weight class. Ranked 30th in the world.
The best achievement of his career is the European Championship bronze in karate from 2019.
My father Kai Keinänen worked as a coach until the end of 2021. Javier Oran from Tenerife is now the coach.
Ending his career in Salzburg’s Serie-A competition on 13-15 September 2024.
From 2022, Keinänen has been training in the heat of the south
Keinänen has lived in Tenerife for the past two and a half years. Until the end of 2021, his coach was his own father, Kai Keinänen. In recent years, a man from Tenerife has been responsible for the training of the Eura Karate Club’s athletes Javier Oran.
The change was preceded by the failure of a big career dream: getting to the Olympics remained a dream after all. Karate was included as a sport in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
– The Olympics was the big goal and goal. It was a disappointment, even though there were incredibly few places there in karate. When the Olympic door then closed, I decided to make changes and turn one more stone. My father had been my coach until then, and it started to feel like it would be really nice if my father was just a father.
Keinänen says that he is really satisfied with the time he spent in Tenerife. He is also grateful that he has avoided serious injuries in his career. Sure, a year ago the early season was ruined by a torn hamstring, but this past season Keinänen has been able to play sports healthy.
– You shouldn’t take it for granted that you can play sports intact. In terms of a sports career, it’s a really big deal to be able to make all decisions on your own terms. I get to decide when I stop and I’m really grateful for that.
Life is in Tenerife
Even though his competitive sports career ends, Keinänen plans to stay in the Canary Islands. The future is still unclear, but one of the options is a job in karate.
– It may be that at first I need a little breather. Many people have worked really hard for me and I hope that I could somehow give back. So I would like to work for Finnish and why not international karate in a different role. How, where and how much, I don’t know yet.
The Finnish karateka has liked the way of life in Tenerife. To what Titta Keinänen plans to do in October 2024, she answers with a laugh.
– Very good question, I don’t know at all. However, I do see myself here in Tenerife and probably in tourism somehow. I’ve already got the little one in the door, because I work here as a target contact for a travel agency.