The penultimate day of judo will see the titans go head to head for gold, and for France this will be a monumental day if Teddy RINER is on his A game. With three Olympic gold medals – including the historic Mixed Team win – Riner is one of the most decorated, and is looking to impress the home crowds with another huge win and conclude the fairytale.
It won’t be an easy ride for Riner though, and the draw won’t be kind to him regardless of where he placed himself. The heavyweight scene has changed greatly during his career, but one thing is for sure, that target remains on his back. Leading the two halves of the draw are current World Champion, KIM Minjong (KOR) and Temur RAKHIMOV (TJK). Top seed for Europe is former World Champion and Olympic silver medallist, Guram TUSHISHVILI, the new captain of Team Georgia. Despite Tushishvili being a heavyweight, he has certainly been one to change the tide, making this category much more dynamic.
\SAITO Tatsuru (JPN) came close in the Paris Grand Slam to undoing Riner, though the Frenchman came out on top in the end, nevertheless, he is one of the major threats to French success. Alisher YUSUPOV (UZB) is in the same realm, capable in his best action. Closing out the seeding positions is Masters gold medallist and former European Champion, Martti PUUMALAINEN (FIN), a great deal has changed in this past cycle for the Finnish athlete, and as a fan favourite, he has a great deal of fans rooting for his success.
Now, outside of the seeding there are strong athletes, but here to upset the seeding is the current Olympic Champion of the +100kg category, Lukas KRPALEK (CZE). His seeding has been affected as he has competed in both the -100kg and +100kg categories during this cycle, leaving the decision to the final moments. Having already accomplished Olympic success in both divisions he was free of pressure.
Again, France will have a great chance for glory, this time in the +78kg category from Romane DICKO. The top seed’s preparation has been perfect this year, with three consecutive Grand Slam wins, she is on great form to tackle the Olympic title. It was a disappointing result for her in Tokyo as an individual, however she still walked away with the Mixed Team gold, something she will also want to hold on to this year. Current European Champion, Raz HERSHKO (ISR) leads the other half of the draw, and though she hasn’t been as active on the tour in 2024, she is still one of the strongest in this division and it will be tough to stop her on the road to the final, where she could meet Dicko for a fifth time.
One tremendous success story comes from Kayra OZDEMIR (TUR), it will be emotional for her to compete on French soil, but something done plenty of times before. The 36 year-old, world ranked #3 took her best result to date only two months ago, reaching the final of the World Championships in Abu Dhabi. Europe can also boast two more in the top eight; Rochele NUNES (POR) and Asya TAVANO (ITA) who took the 5th place in Abu Dhabi, an incredible feat for the 22 year old who took her first IJF result only last year. It has been a whirlwind experience as she also cleaned up with a Grand Slam gold in Dushanbe.
As most of the categories, there are some dangerous outliers; SONE Akira (JPN) and Idalys ORTIZ (CUB) will be just two of those in the +78kg category, though the likes of Renne LUCHT (GER) won the Tbilisi Grand Slam this year and is still ranked #24. It is all to play for on the seventh day of the judo event.
Friday 2nd August: +100kg/+78kg
- Preliminaries
- Start: 10:00 End: 14:00
- Final block (repechage, semi-finals, bronze medal contests and final)
- Start: 16:00 End: 19:00
Author: Thea Cowen