Awaiting her was France's Lea Fontaine, who impressed throughout the competition. After opening with a confident victory against Liu Yu (CHN), she defeated Tokyo Olympic champion Akira Sone (JPN) before producing an authoritative semi-final performance against Helena Vukovic (CRO). Fontaine arrived in the final in outstanding form!
Throughout the day, Startseva grew in confidence and she carried that momentum into the final from the very first exchange. Strong and powerful, the Russian imposed her rhythm quickly. When Fontaine launched an attack that lacked conviction, Startseva seized the opportunity, countered decisively and immediately secured an osaekomi for an emphatic ippon, leaving no doubt about the outcome and claiming a thoroughly deserved gold medal.
Elis Startseva responded to her win by saying, "I feel great joy because this victory is crucial for my Olympic qualification and for our team, especially after losing at the grand slam last week. In Mongolia, we arrived two weeks early but heavy workloads and tough acclimatisation prevented me from recovering. For China, I prioritised rest, which made the winning difference.
Looking ahead to the Baku World Championships, I am ready to take the throne. The goal is strictly gold in both the individual and team events, though the individuals means the most to me.
My plan for the Los Angeles Olympics is to collect qualification points intelligently. I’m aiming to win the European championships and world championships in this period. So, there are no summer holidays for me, just one week of rest at home and then it is straight back to hard work and training."
The bronze medal contests also offered plenty of intrigue. The first saw home judoka Xinran Niu (CHN), who had eliminated top seed Raz Hershko (ISR) sensationally in the repechage, take on Helena Vukovic (CRO). Vukovic, though, produced one of the finest performances of the final block. After recovering from an early penalty deficit, she gradually wrestled back control of the contest, despite the overwhelming support for her opponent, before throwing Niu with a result-defining o-soto-gari for a yuko to secure the bronze medal.
The second bronze medal contest opposed home favourite Jinesinuer Ayiman (CHN), who had delighted the Qingdao crowd by defeating Sophio Somkhishvili (GEO) and Erica Simonetti (ITA) on her way to the semi-finals, and Yuli Alma Mishiner (ISR), who had battled back through the repechage after losing to Vukovic.
If the first bronze medal escaped the host nation, the second did not. Ayiman delighted the home supporters by securing China's fourth medal of the tournament, including one gold, ensuring the hosts finished the category on a high.
Final (+78 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (+78 kg)
