NAME: Barbara MATIC
COUNTRY: CROATIA
CATEGORY: -70KG
POINTS: 6720
It mightn’t have been a fairytale ending in the Jerusalem World Judo Masters for Barbara MATIC (CRO), but nothing will take away the shine off her sensational and historic achievements.
In the 2021 World Championships in Budapest, Matic made history for her nation with a world title win, and she came in to this years championships confident but well aware there were plenty after her red back patch. Never would she have imagined the result that day. Not only had she battled through to the final, but there she met her young team mate Lara CVJETKO and once again, left as the world title holder and continued her legacy.
We can’t wait to see if the double world champion can make it a hat-trick in Qatar next year, but before that there will be plenty of opportunities for her to impress on the tour.
Recently the EJU followed Matic behind the scenes, find out more about the world ranked number one athlete here: https://www.eju.net/croatia-small-country-big-dreams/.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen