Lea Fontaine carried the host nation’s hopes as she walked on to the tatami to face Hyeonji Lee of Korea in the +78 kg final. The Frenchwoman wasted no time, attacking from the outset and halting the usual barrage that comes when facing a Korean opponent. Their style is always accompanied by speed but Fontaine had found her solution to it. Unfortunately during one attack from Fontaine, Lee sustained an injury and was unable to continue. It was gold for France and silver for Korea.
The first bronze medal contest saw Olympic silver medallist Raz Hershko face Olympic bronze medallist Hayun Kim (KOR). It was a fast and furious battle but Hershko was entirely locked in, unshakable on her route to the podium. She threw Kim for ippon in the second minute to seal the win.
In the second bronze medal contest, Mao Arai (JPN) used her superior ne-waza skills to hold Kamps (NED) twice for waza-ari. Kamps did well to escape the first time but the second waza-ari was almost immediate, Arai not releasing the original grip for even a moment.
This gold medal pushed france back into the lead on the medal table with 3 gold and 3 silver each for France and Japan but with the host team also having 9 bronze medals. This ensured it would be France at the top of the list after the last category of the day as there was no french representative in the final of the men’s +100 kg category.
Final (+78 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (+78 kg)
