It was always likely to be a close contest and in the end it couldn’t have been closer. Olek took the win on penalties, 3-2, after edging the exchanges with more dominant gripping than her teammate. Two German flags would hang above the podium nonetheless.
After the final Olek said, “I am happy as I followed our plan perfectly in the early rounds. Facing my teammate in the final was tough because we know each other so well, so making throws is difficult. I won by staying mentally consistent and forcing attacks to avoid penalties. The gold in Astana shows that we made a great decision by not competing in the European Championships and to have additional practices.
Liz Ngelebaya (FRA) and Ekaterina Tokareva (KAZ) each arrived with high hopes. The crowd’s support for the latter was omnipresent but it didn’t faze Ngelebaya who countered first for a yuko before throwing for ippon in the very next exchange with a massive harai-goshi.
Beatriz Freitas (BRA) and Coralie Godbout (CAN) guaranteed the second bronze medal of the category would travel to Pan-America but whether it was headed north or south was still up for debate. It took just three minutes to find the answer: south! Freitas launched Godbout for ippon just inside the fourth minute, a fully committed turn-in that deserved its “ippon” call.
Final (-78 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-78 kg)
