At both -100 kg and -78 kg, the top four seeds did their jobs almost perfectly, all reaching the semi-final stages of their respective weight group. However, not all of them left the arena with a podium finish!
In the women’s section, Patricia Sampaio (POR) and Anna Monta Olek (GER) respected the rankings by winning the respective gold and silver medals but the bronzes went to the 5th and 7th ranked athletes, Yuliia Kurchenko (UKR) and Fanny Estelle Posvite (FRA), at the expense of Emma Reid (GBR) and Audrey Tcheumeo (FRA).
Tcheumeo, like Clarisse Agbegnenou, was in search of her 6th European title in Podgorica but it wasn’t to be and the race for the first French athlete to claim that record remains wide open.
In the men’s category, the medals were also not distributed quite as the top seeds expected. Sulamanidze (GEO) upturned the result of the Olympic final last summer and with a yuko score took the title ahead of Olympic champion Kotsoiev (AZE). The bronzes, supposed to be won by Adamian (IJF) and Savytskiy (UKR), like the women’s results, went the other way. The Netherlands’ Simeon Catharina and Italy’s Gennaro Pirelli used every ounce of ingenuity and power to claim their victories and step on to the podium, satisfying medal wins indeed!
In the heavyweight women’s category, Romane Dicko (FRA) dominated without hesitation, throwing Israel’s Raz Hershko in the final. After her win Dicko said, “This is my 5th gold, Clarisse and Audrey have the same so we still have to see who will be first.”
Bronze medals went to Asya Tavano (ITA) and Elis Startseva (IJF), the latter throwing with a beautiful de-ashi-harai to harai-goshi combination for the medal.
In the heavyweight men’s category, Inal Tasoev (IJF) obeyed his ranking perfectly, beginning the day as the number one seed and ending it as the gold medallist. He beat World Judo Masters and 2023 European champion Martti Puumaleinen (FIN) and double Olympic champion Lukas Krpalek (CZE) along the way, a convincing victory.
The bronze medals went to the Czech superstar and Germany's Erik Abramov.