In the first bronze medal contest, Timna Nelson Levy (ISR), a staple of the World Judo Tour final blocks, set up her desired grip from the very first touch, putting 2022 Panamerican champion Jessica Lima (BRA) on the back foot straight away. She kept that grip and used it perfectly to score ippon with a huge tsuri-goshi, taking a satisfying bronze medal in record time, the fastest ippon of the final block today.
Irina Zueva (IJF) wanted the second bronze medal but 2024 Paris Grand Slam winner Faiza Mokdar (FRA) stood in her way, a formidable opponent. With a minute and a hlaf left and no scores on the board, Mokdar attacked with the ‘Huizinga roll’ but a precise escpae saw Zueva counter the move and hold the Frenchwoman down, not for long but enough seconds passed to add a yuko to her side of the scoreboard. In the minute that followed she collected two penalties but they weren’t sufficient for Mokdar to fix her mistake and that yuko sent Zueva to the podium.
Akari Omori and Moa Ono arrived in the arena to contest the last fiinal of the day, the second all-Japanese one of the event so far. It was a shorter fight than the -48 kg final, Omori throwing for ippon with a huge osoto-gari in the first exchange to claim her first grand slam title.
Final (-57 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-57 kg)
