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European University Games: University of Graz student wins gold and bronze in kickboxing

Tuesday, 30 July 2024

The Olympic Games have just begun in Paris. In Debrecen and Miskolc, Hungary, the European University Games came to an end last week. Around 4500 students from all over Europe took part in 17 different sports. Among those who were particularly successful there is a student from the University of Graz: kickboxer Nurhana Fazlic came home with two medals. She won gold in the Point Fight up to 65 kilograms and bronze in the Kick Light up to 65 kilograms. A great performance, but one for which she had to suffer. Including a double fracture at her eye, which sent her to hospital. It is also a challenge for the young woman from Graz to juggle her sport and the study of business administration.

Nurhana Fazlic can dish it out well. The kickboxer fought with concentration, speed, strength and stamina at this year's European University Games. At the age of ten, she chose kickboxing as her sport. Was that a coincidence? "After a few months of training, my parents told me that my mom used to watch kickboxing fights late into the night when she was pregnant with me," says the now 21-year-old, who is still enthusiastic about the sport: "I'm fascinated by the fact that body and mind have to work together and also that everyone talks, laughs and becomes friends after the fight."

Nurhana decided to study business administration because it provides a good foundation for many different professions. "I'm most interested in management," she reveals. However, combining sport and university is extremely challenging. "Tournaments take place all year round. In order to collect points for the world rankings and qualify for the World and European Championships, I have to take part in almost all international tournaments and always give my best," she explains.

There are clashes with exams and problems with compulsory attendance in some subjects. "Then I ask the lecturers to reschedule. That works very well in most cases," says the kickboxer happily. However, there have also been times when she has had to repeat a course because she couldn't make it to the mid-term exam.

Sport is also the order of the day during the summer holidays. "In July/August, training camps are organised all over the world in preparation for the World and European Championships, which take place every two years in November." The little time that remains for learning must be used all the more efficiently.

Kickboxing is not yet a globally recognised Olympic discipline and is therefore not represented in Paris. However, the sport was included in the European Games organised by the European Olympic Committees for the first time in Poland in 2023. Nurhana Fazlic took part as a member of the Austrian Olympic team.

European University Games

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