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The -78kg category has some huge characters, and leading the charge is none other that Olympic bronze medallist, Patricia SAMPAIO (POR). Still seeking her senior title, Sampaio has been on the podium at cadet, junior and U23, with the latter two resulting in gold. In 2023 she secured a bronze medal, however 2025 has truly delivered and it feels like she has ‘arrived’. A gold in the Paris Grand Slam is always a great sign but this result was also sandwiched by medals in Tokyo and Tbilisi.
She has stiff competition in the top four; in the second seeded position there is the swiftly rising star, Anna Monta OLEK (GER) who had chased down two of her team mates in the build up to the Paris Games, and has since gone on to secure two Grand Slam golds, and more recently a bronze in Tashkent. At only 22 she is one of the younger in the top ten.
Emma REID (GBR) had been steadily climbing towards some big results and in 2024 made three important, consecutive results, two Grand Slam medals, and finally a World bronze in Abu Dhabi. Though she didn’t manage to keep the ball rolling in the Olympic Games, she put herself back on the podium in the Upper Austria Grand Prix.
One athlete many will be watching is Audrey TCHEUMEO (FRA), like Clarisse AGBEGNENOU in the -63kg category, Tcheumeo could place herself in the history books for Team France by adding a sixth European title to her collection. It was an emotional win for the defending European Champion in Zagreb last year, her titles dating back to 2011 in Istanbul. Tcheuemo is joined in the top eight by another experienced team mate, Fanny Estelle POSVITE.
With a medal in the Tashkent World Championships, attention was on Yelyzaveta LYTVYNENKO (UKR), however this has moved on to Yuliia KURCHENKO. The latter claimed an U23 title in 2023, the in 2024 took her first Grand Slam gold in Tbilisi. The same result came in 2025, this time for Metna LOBNIK (SLO).
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen