What could have been a troubling opening contest for the Croatian, against a very experienced Kim Polling (ITA), ended with an o-soto-gari in a very dynamic fight. She went on to beat Ai Tsunoda Roustant in the quarter-final to book her place in her semi-final in a dominant and self-assured way.
Below her in the draw, the number 4 seed also held rank by passing Samardzic (BIH) in round 2 and then throwing 2023 world champion Niizoe (JPN) in the quarter-final. Sanne Van Dijke, already an Olympic medallist, is on a mission!
The third quarter also went as planned although the route wasn’t steady. The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist looked at risk against Great Britain’s Yeats-Brown, potentially only seconds away from taking a third shido, when the Brit made a huge mistake, despite dominating the contests, and ended up on her back. Polleres (AUT) took her chance and ensured osae-komi was called.
In the quarter-final Polleres destroyed France’s day 5 hope of a gold medal, taking out Gahie almost with ease. It was a big change from her first contest, a wake-up call!
The last athlete registered for the semi-finals was the only one not among the top four seeds at the beginning of the day. Teltsidou was the pool leader but she was held down by Belgium’s Gabriella Willems. Willems was then eliminated from the race to gold by Butkereit (GER).
At 4pm local time the final 8 athletes will return to the Champs-de-mars to fight for Olympic medals. It will be intense, as every day has been.
Repechage
Ai Tsunoda Roustant (ESP) vs Saki Niizoe (JPN)
Gabriella Willems (BEL) vs Marie-Eve Gahie (FRA)
Semi-finals
Barbara Matic (CRO) vs Sanne Van Dijke (NED)
Miriam Butkereit (GER) vs Michaela Polleres (AUT)