As the number one seed in the tournament, she could reasonably hope to reach the final again but that was without counting on Maya Kogan (ISR) who, to everyone's surprise, eliminated Cvjetko at the door of the grand final. She had to remobilise for the bronze medal contest.
At the bottom of the draw, once again, the favourite did not manage to escape the trap of the elimination stages. Shiho Tanaka (JPN) was defeated by Sanne Vermeer (NED) in the semi-final, the Dutchwoman joining Kogan in the final.
Some power was put into the final, with Kogan having a similar style to her teammate and Olympic silver medallist, Inbar Lanir. The first score was therefore on Kogan's side with a powerful ko-soto-gake but the final score came from an uchi-mata-sukashi beautifully performed by Sanne Vermeer for ippon. What a beautiful final that was!
Kaja Schuster (SLO) and Shiho Tanaka (JPN) met in the first match for a bronze medal. Despite being supported by Olympic champion Andreja Leški, sitting in the stands, Schuster couldn't score during normal time and neither could Tanaka, until the very last second. The Japanese judoka launched a very last uchi-mata attack right on the gong to score ippon and send the bronze medal to Japan.
Lara Cvjetko (CRO) could still save her day by facing Kaillany Cardoso (BRA) for the second bronze medal. She started well with a first waza-ari with her aerial uchi-mata. Meanwhile, 2 penalties apiece were also distributed, putting both judoka under pressure. With 32 seconds to go, Lara Cvjetko could scored a second waza-ari with her uchi-mata, slightly differently driven. In the end, it was a new medal for Croatia.
Final (-70 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-70 kg)
