It had been an incredible day for both Laura FAZLIU (KOS) and Katarina KRISTO (CRO) who in the end faced one another for the Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medal in the -63kg category.
Kristo made a huge impact in her category earlier in the year by making it to the Paris Grand Slam final against Clarisse AGBEGNENOU (FRA), and later taking a Grand Slam bronze in Antalya, then completing her collection with a title win in Kazakhstan. On day four of the judo event, she continued to show the world why she was meant to be here, taking out both TAKAICHI Miss (JPN) and KIM Jisu (KOR) within her quarter.
It was sensational for Team Croatia who continued support for their athlete as she went in to the semi final against Prisca AWITI ALCARAZ (MEX). Though her road to gold ended there, she went straight to the bronze medal contest against Fazliu.
For Fazliu however, it was a different story. The seeded athlete from Kosovo has a first round bye, then made it past TANG Jing (CHN), only to meet Agbegnenou in the quarter final. It was a blinding win for the Frenchwoman who succeeded in under 30 seconds to secure her place in the semi final. This of course meant Fazliu needed to regroup and face her road to bronze, defeating Canada’s medal hope, Catherine BEAUCHEMIN-PINARD.
Fazliu and Kristo gave their all, even heading in to golden score. Eventually, the win was given to Kristo, celebrations were had and the pair were brought to the middle of the tatami. The referee gestured for the commission to review the action and the result was the removal of Kristo’s waza ari score, which was replaced by a devastating third shido, a gripping infringement on the leg.
The roles had reversed and Fazliu was overjoyed to join the success story of the Kosovo team.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen