Warm-up

In February 2019, Badawy won his first continental gold medal at The African Championship in Marrakech, Morocco. A month later, he contended at The Arab Championship for Clubs, winning the bronze medal in the kumite team event. During the same year in May, he won the gold medal in the men’s kumite +76 kg event at the Karate1 Youth League held in Limassol, Cyprus, and, in August, he won the bronze medal in the men’s team kumite at The African Games held in Rabat, Morocco. A few months later, he was ready to vie for a medal at the Junior, Cadet and U21 World Karate Championship held in Santiago, Chile, at which he claimed his first world bronze medal.^[3]

In February 2020, before COVID-19 outbreak, he won the silver medal in the men’s team kumite event at the African Championship in Tangier, Morocco.

Preliminaries

Badawy vs Nabil Ech-Chaabi at Moscow Karate1 Premier League final

In April 2021, after the hiatus foisted by the karate events suspension due to COVID, he made his first premier league participation for the season in Lisbon, Portugal.^[4] Badawy competed with Male Kumite -84 kg category’s best bets and swept the two premier leagues held at the thick of the season. He made his senior debut in September at Egypt’s Karate 1 Premier League with a gold medal,^[5] and at the premier league that followed in Moscow, he carried another gold medal back home after keeping a clean sheet throughout his five rounds.^[6][7] He promised on Instagram that it would not be the last gold medal.^[8]

World Karate Championship 2021: The breakthrough

Badawy was one of the youngest contenders in the tournament. He started off with a win against Ivan Kvesić, one-time 2018 world champion, and upstaged renowned karate pros. At the semi-final bout, Badawy bumped heads with Jessie Da Costa who outmatched with a single point almost till the end. Badawy’s national team coach Mohamed Abdelrahman requested a VR at the 0:04 second which stalled the announcement of the bout end and provided Badawy with a final chance. Badawy signed off an emotive last-second Yuko to even the score 2-2 and win the bout by Senshu privilege.^[9][10]

"The awaited moment"

After an indecisive final between Badawy and Fabián Huaiquimán, the bout ended with a score tie 6-6 and the nullification of Badawy’s Senshu. Badawy was proclaimed the winner by Hantei after a consensus among the five judges.

Badawy scoring his closing punch for the qualifying bout
Egypt
BOUT	CONTENDER	NATIONALITY	RESULT
1st Bout	Ivan Kvesić	Croatia	5/4
2nd Bout	Othman Majeed Shvan	Iraq	10/0
3rd Bout	Diego Silva	Brazil	6/2
Quarter Final	Faraj Alnashri	Saudi Arabia	7/5
Semi Final	Jessie Da Costa	France	2/2
Final	Fabián Huaiquimán	Chile	6/6

He stated that it was an exacting win and attributed his achievement to his family.

"The moment that I have been dreaming of my entire life, which one can never express it; for it is an ineffable feeling. The moment at which one truly values everything he has sacrificed for, and at which every instant of fatigue, pain, frustration, loss, and despair flashes right before his eyes, making him perceive God’s blessing and forget how that all felt once. All the credit goes to my parents; the real heroes and the reason, after God, behind everything."

– Youssef Badawy on standing on the first-place podium of the World Championship.^[11]

Golden Season

Badawy inaugurated his 2022 season medal count with a gold medal at the Fujairah Karate1 Premier League event after coming across his teammate, Mohamed Ramadan, at an all-Egypt final.^[13] In March, he went for playing for Al-Sharjah Sporting Club and placed first at the national Karate General League held in UAE.

Fujairah premier league award ceremony

In May, Badawy made it to the first place in the world ranking of his category. Days later he welcomed another gold medal to his records at Rabat Karate1 Premier League.^[14][15]

2023 Season

Badawy had a rough start for the 2023 season as he had to sit out the Karate Premier League held in his hometown, Cairo, Egypt, because of his jaw injury. On January 7, two weeks before the Premier League, Badawy was competing at the Saudi national league when he received a hard blow in the face. He was diagnosed with a jaw dislocation and had to undergo a surgery, hindering his participation in any combat during his recovery period.^[22]

He preserved his seat on the throne of the world ranking for the months of January, March, and May. ^{[23] [24] [25] [26]} In July, Badawy featured his first seminar and training camp in Stockholm, Sweden. ^[27] In August, Badawy celebrated his return for the 2023 season with a gold medal at the individual and team event at the African Championship in Casablanca, Morocco.^[28][29]

Badawy concluded the season with a gold medal at the 2023 World Karate Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, and a silver medal for the kumite team event for the first time in the Egyptian karate history since Tampere World Karate Championship's bronze medal.^[30] Badawy becomes the first male Egyptian karateka to win two consecutive world golds at the senior world championships.^[31][32]

Budapest World Championship Results
Egypt
BOUT	CONTENDER	NATIONALITY	RESULT
1st Bout	Yonatan Freund	Australia	8/0
2nd Bout	Bjorn Kulovuori	Finland	6/4
3rd Bout	Makhtar Diop	Senegal	0/0 (winner by Hantei)
Quarter Final	Valerii Chobotar	Ukraine	6/1
Semi Final	Eduard Gasparian	ROC	7/3
Final	Mahdi Khodobakhshi	Iran	9/2

Badawy participated in Moscow Karate Universe international competition two weeks after the world championship and achieved a gold medal.^[33]