With the premature passing of the reigning world champion, Klimkait did not let her luck slip away and she went to the final, defeating Ivelina Ilieva (BUL), Lele Nairne (GBR), Priscilla Gneto (FRA) and finally Pauline Starke (GER) in the semi-final.
In the lower part of the draw, some first rounds were very promising, such as the one between former Olympic champion, Rafaela Silva (BRA), and former double world champion and Olympic medallist Daria Bilodid, a poster worthy of a world or Olympic final. It was at the end of the suspense and after a very committed match from the two champions that Bilodid finally won with a counter-attack during golden score.
Defeating Nekoda Smythe-Davis in the next round, Daria Bilodid then faced the Olympic silver medallist Sarah Léonie Cysique (FRA), in great form since the first rounds. The quarter-final went to the Frenchwoman. The latter, on her way, made short work of Haruka Funakubo (JPN) in the semi-final, throwing her with a superb harai-goshi chained directly to an immobilisation; classic, efficient and beautiful.
The final was a dynamic stalemate with the hip throws of Cysique and the dropping shoulder throws of Klimkait, each the nemesis of the other. The styles were so different, the statures too, almost like two different categories. Attacks from one and then the other and at a decent pace, all the way to full time with only one shido on the board, against the French athlete.
The bell sounded and each took a breath ready for the golden score period. It took Klimkait just 12 seconds to power under Cysique with a morote seoi-nage that finally registered. With almost a pause, Klimkait caught extra rotational momentum and propelled the Olympic silver medallist on to her back. Gold for Canada and silver for France was the final result of the day.
The French team did not settle only for the Cysique final, as Priscilla Gneto (FRA) qualified for the bronze medal contest against Japan's Haruka Funakubo (JPN) but in golden score it was Haruka Funakubo who took the win with an opportunistic ko-soto-gari for ippon.
Daria Bilodid (UKR) and Pauline Starke (GER) completed the final block, qualifying for the second match for a bronze medal. After Bilodid was awarded a first score from an o-soto-gari that was then cancelled, she secured another one and without any doubt, to take the lead. The result seemed to be sealed but Starke scored her own beautiful waza-ari with a counter-attack, followed with an immobilisation, but she could not hold it long enough. It was time for a golden score period between a Bilodid running out of steam and a determined Starke. 30 seconds into extra time, Bilodid as the champion she is, found the resources to launch an o-uchi-gari for a clear ippon this time.
Final (-57 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-57 kg)
