Sugimura built her route to the final with the same quiet efficiency, in the lower half. The Japanese judoka passed Sara Fernandez Campillo (ESP) before getting the better of Maria Swan (AUS) and then edging past Metka Lobnik (SLO) with a waza-ari in the quarter-finals. Her semi-final against Tuana Gulenay (TUR) again required patience but Sugimura managed the contest well before sealing victory by ippon.
The bronze medal contests gathered four judoka whose days had each carried a different storyline. Lobnik, stopped only by Sugimura in the quarter-finals, returned strongly through the repechage and faced Freitas, whose powerful run through pool B had ended against Olek in the semi-finals. On the other side, Emma Reid (GBR) recovered from her defeat against Freitas by beating Martina Esposito (ITA) in the repechage, earning a bronze medal contest against Gulenay, who had impressed on her way to the semi-finals before being denied by Sugimura.
Olek made the perfect start to the final, launching a spectacular, airborne uchi-mata close to the contest area boundary for a clean waza-ari. Before half-time, each judoka had already accumulated two penalties, leaving no margin for error during the remainder of the contest. Sugimura mounted one final attack in the closing seconds, scoring a yuko with an o-uchi-gari, but it came too late to overturn the deficit. Olek held on to claim the gold medal for Germany.
Straight after the final, Anna Monta Olek explained, "I’m very relieved to get a medal after finishing fifth last week. The difference this time was purely tactical; instead of taking big risks like last week, I stuck strictly to the plan and avoided mistakes. It was a close call at the end against a very tough, shorter Japanese opponent who kept blocking my distance.
Qingdao has been a great surprise; it's a massive, beautiful city right by the ocean and the venue had a much better warm-up area this time. Looking ahead to the Los Angeles Olympics though, my main goal is to stay healthy and injury-free. First, I’m taking a 10-day holiday to Hawaii, followed by a training camp in Brazil and a competition in Switzerland."
The first bronze medal contest saw Tuana Gulenay (TUR) strike first with a powerful makikomi for waza-ari. Emma Reid (GBR) answered with a yuko via a ko-uchi-gari and applied relentless pressure until the final seconds, but Gulenay defended her advantage superbly to secure a well-earned place on the podium.
The second bronze medal contest produced one of the finest exchanges of the day. Beatriz Freitas (BRA) exploded into action with a beautifully timed ippon ko-uchi-gake for waza-ari, catching Metka Lobnik (SLO) by surprise. The Slovenian responded immediately. Changing direction brilliantly, she executed a low seoi-otoshi before continuing the movement backwards to score and completely reverse the contest, earning a memorable bronze medal.
Final (-78 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-78 kg)
