Earlier in the evening, the first repechage contest pitted Hayun Kim (KOR) against Larisa Ceric (BIH). The Korean won the contest with a strong o-uchi-gari for waza-ari, leaving Ceric in 7th place. There was no second contest in this round as Akira Sone was unable to compete due to injury and so Serbia’s Milica Zabic moved forward into the bronze medal contest.
The first semi-final saw Raz Herskho (ISR) completely dominate Kayra Ozdemir (TUR) throwing for ippon with osoto-otoshi in the first exchange. Ozdemir was shocked while Hershko was emotional about reaching her first Olympic final.
The second semi-final was loud, very loud, as it featured home favourite Romane Dicko. In front of her was Beatriz Souza (BRA) who had delivered sharp, positive judo throughout the day. That approach did not let her down in the semi-final and Dicko could not keep up. Souza eventually threw and held Dicko, much to the amazement of the crowd. It was an excellent performance!
In the first medal contest of the session, Hayun Kim (KOR) was on the offensive from the outset. Ozdemir’s strong grips and resilient movement couldn’t match Kim who threw with an o-uhci-gari to uchi-mata combination to win the medal.
The second bronze medal contest sent the crowd wild. A giant flag was unfurled across several blocks of the spectator seating in celebration and support of Romane Dicko who lived up to the crowd’s expectation. She threw Zabic for ippon cleanly and quickly to ensure she had a place on the podium despite still being disappointed that she hadn’t reached the long-awaited final at home.
In the final, Souza was faster to the attack than Hershko and she registered a waza-ari from a well timed o-soto-gari. Hershko came back with a seoi-otoshi which was close to scoring but didn’t have enough drive to meet the criteria. Both continued to look for scores but that first o-soto was enough to carry Souza to the Olympic gold. She was overcome with emotion, as was her coach, an Olympic champion herself, Sarah Menezes. What an incredible performance from the new Olympic champion at the end of a good week of individual competition for Brazil.
After the final, coach Sarah Menezes said, “This was a great performance. She worked hard and today she was magnificent. I’m also very happy when I realise what she did today. I had gold in London and am now with Beatriz as a coach. She has helped me fulfil another dream.”
Beatriz Souza, the new Olympic champion said simply, “I’m very blessed to be here. In Paris I wrote my name in history.”
Final (+78 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (+78 kg)
