Wiradech Kothny was born on the 10th of May 1979 in Kanchanaburi/Thailand (River Kwai). At the age of 3½ he was adopted by the German journalist Erik Kothny. Because his grandmother could not pronounce the name Wiradech, she simply called him ”Willi”, which led to everybody calling him Willi.

At the age of eleven Willi started fencing. It was clear from the start, he was destined for great things and would be one of the best athletes of his generation. His exceptional speed provides Willi with a great advantage, especially when he launches his devastating and unique attack, the ”mungoose-jump”.

His first coach was a bronze medallist at the Rome Olympic Games, Eberhard Mehl. Since 2001, his brother Somkhit Phongyoo is working as Willi's coach: After the Olympic games 2000 in Sydney both brothers changed to the Amateur Fencing Association of Thailand (AFAT).


Contact:

Wiradech ”Willi” Kothny Säbelfechter Markenbildchenweg 21 56068 Koblenz Germany	Nunthanit Fencing Sports Center 2/270 Ramintra 14 Ramintra Rd. Tharang Bangkhean Bangkok 10220 Thailand
Phone: +49 (0) 261 18388 Mobile: +49 (0) 171 2218388 Fax: +49 (0) 261 1004328 e-Mail: kothny@t-online.de Homepage: www.kothny.de

Exceptional Successes:

1992 - German Champion Pre-Cadet
1993 - German Champion Pre-Cadet
1994 - Thai Champion
1995 - International Thai Champion
1996 - German Champion Cadet
1997 - International Thai Champion
        - German Champion Junior
1998 - World Champion Junior (team)
        - International Thai Champion
        - German Champion Junior
1999 - World Champion Junior
        - European Champion
2000 - German Champion
        - Bronze Medal Olympic games Sydney (single)
        - Bronze Medal Olympic games Sydney (team)
2001 - Nr. 3 world ranking
        - Winner of world cups in London and Havanna
2002 - Thai Champion
2003 - Thai University Champion
        - International Thai Champion
        - Asian Champion


Following sabre-fencers participate in the Olympic Games in Athens:

	1.	258	Vladimir Lukashenko	UKR
	2.	215	Stanislav Pozdniakov	RUS
	3.	180	Mihai Covaliu	ROM
	4.	168	Serguei Charikov	RUS
	5.	155	Zsolt Nemcsik	HUN
	6.	154	Aldo Montano	ITA
	7.	149	Luigi Tarantino	ITA
	8.	147	Dmitri Lapkes	BLR
	9.	147	Alexei Diatchenko	RUS
	10.	145	Balazs Lengyel	HUN
	11.	143	Domonkos Ferjancsik	HUN
	12.	132	Gael Touya	FRA
	13.	128	Julien Pillet	FRA
	14.	119	Damien Touya	FRA
	15.	114	Fernando Medina	ESP
	16.	90	Ivan Lee	USA
	17.	85	Wiradech Kothny	THA
	18.	79	Gianpiero Pastore	ITA
	19.	75	Rafal Sznajder	POL
	20.	65	Eun Seok Oh	KOR
	21.	64	Keith Smart	USA
	22.	60	Michel Boulos	CAN
	23.	57	Vladislav Tretiak	UKR
	24.	55	Vladimir Kalujni	UKR
	25.	50	Jason Rogers	USA
	26.	33	Feng Cheng	CHN
	27.	31	Yaojiang Huang	CHN
	28.	29	Constantine Manetas	GRE
	29.	25	C. A. Amaya Camejo	CUB
	30.	22	Han Ming Zhou	CHN
	31.	21	Masahishi Nagara	JPN
	32.	20	Mohamed Rebai	BRA
	33.	17	Marios Basmatzian	GRE
	34.	8	Renzo Agresta	BRA
	35.	7	Jason Dourakos	GRE
	36.	0	Sorel-Arthur Kembe	CGO
	37.	0	Raouf Salim Bernaoui	ALG
	38.	0	Nassim Isam Bernaoui	ALG
	39.	0	Reda Benchehima	ALG