She is now looking for a new Olympic qualification, in order to be present in Paris this summer. Everything began for the best for the judo legend who won in her first two fights against the German Samira Bouizgarne and the Croatian Helena Vukovic. The next round promised to be more tactical, as Ortiz faced the number one seed and favourite of the competition, Beatriz Souza (BRA). Although the judoka were each penalised twice, it was a final block at the legs from Ortiz that decided the outcome of the match. She was penalised a third time and had to go through the repechage and a victory over Karen Stevenson (NED) to reach the final block.
Despite her defeat against Souza, we can only admire the course of the Cuban champion, who after so many years at the highest level is still present among the best judoka in the category. What if she stepped on the podium again this summer? Everything is possible.
Beatriz Souza, after her victory over Ortiz, was invited to the final where she found Marit Kamps (NED) who scored valuable points in the Olympic race against her compatriot Stevenson, 7th today. The first before today's result was ranked 11th in the world, while the second was ranked 19th.
In the final, Souza took the lead by waza-ari with soto-makikomi. Despite all her efforts, Marit Kamps couldn't destabilise her opponent and was sent to the ground a second time, with the same technique but this time for ippon. This is a first grand prix gold medal for Beatriz Souza.
In the first match for a bronze medal, Idalys Ortiz (CUB) and Hilal Ozturk (TUR) faced off in a titanic match. Having won in Portugal at the beginning of the season, Hilal Ozturk wanted to reach the podium again but this was not the plan for Idalys Ortiz, who didn't give her a single chance to shine. After a first counter-attack with a te-waza that was awarded waza-ari, the Cuban legend concluded on the ground with an immobilisation for ippon. This is medal number 29 for Idalys Ortiz. Calling her a legend of the sport is further evidenced.
It was Larisa Ceric (BIH) vs Milica Zabic (SRB) in the match for the second bronze medal. The contest remained undecided for several minutes until the last seconds, when Zabic launched a desperate o-uchi-gari for waza-ari, but as she landed, Larisa Ceric was immediately on her to pin her down. Ceric's leg was still trapped and Milica Zabic could keep it until the final gong to transform her waza-ari into a bronze medal.
Final (+78 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (+78 kg)
