Azerbaijani
Bosnian
Bulgarian
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Estonian
Finnish
French
Georgian
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hungarian
Italian
Japanese
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish
Ukrainian
The -63kg category could see history made for Team France if Clarisse AGBEGNENOU is to top the podium and claim her sixth European title. Starting her collection in 2013 at only 20 years old, Agbegnenou was laying the foundations for a long and successful career.
Now with five Olympic medals and six World titles, she can go one step further in Podgorica to be the most decorated French athlete in a continental championship.
However she will need to bring her A-Game to battle against the current World Champion and top seed of the category, Joanne VAN LIESHOUT (NED). In #3 seeded position we’ll see Lubjana PIOVESANA (AUT) prior to Paris Olympics had found her footing and took her first Grand Slam gold medals, leading to a powerful performance in her Olympic debut, finishing in fifth place.
The race continues for Team Croatia, who have Katarina KRISTO and Iva OBERAN in the running for the title. Similarly to Piovesana, Kristo picked up fifth places in the 2024 European Championships and Olympic Games.
Croatia have a strong duo, but France also has potential to double up on medals, with Paris and Tbilisi Grand Slam silver medallist, Manon DEKETER also in the top eight. Though she may be battling in the shadow of Agbegnenou, her presence is certainly being felt. A World medal in 2022 was an incredible achievement, but her consistency has come about in the past seven months, having never missed a podium position, and claiming her first Grand Slam gold in Abu Dhabi.
Rounding out the top eight are ne-waza specialist, Angelika SZYMANKSA (POL) and the defending European Champion, Renata ZACHOVA (CZE), who on her day in Zagreb defeated Van Lieshout and Andreja LESKI (SLO) who were about to take their World and Olympic titles respectively. Though Leski won’t be competing in this edition, team mate and the -57kg European silver medallist, Kaja KAJZER (SLO) will be. Already she has demonstrated that she is capable in her new category, taking the gold in the Upper Austria Grand Prix.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen