The final was a tight affair, unsurprising given how well the two athletes know one another, having contested a world title only a few months ago. The first four minutes unfolded as a gripping battle of kumi-kata, neither judoka willing to give an inch. Each accumulated two shido, sending the contest into golden score.
It was there that Anna Monta Olek seized her chance. During a moment of transition on the ground, she managed to overturn Bellandi and hold her for five seconds, enough to claim the gold medal.
The two embraced warmly afterwards, a mark of mutual respect and of a job well done, especially for Olek, whose performance in Abu Dhabi was one of the day’s finest.
The bronze-medal contests featured Guusje Steenhuis (NED) facing Mizuki Sugimura (JPN), while Kaila Issoufi (FRA) prepared for a demanding encounter against Inbar Lanir (ISR). In the first contest, nearly three minutes passed before Sugimura produced a moment of brilliance. Pressured along the edge of the tatami, she used Steenhuis’s force to initiate an o-soto-gari, immediately turned into a flowing harai-goshi that left the Dutch judoka with no chance. It was an ippon score and a first grand slam medal for Mizuki Sugimura.
In the second bronze-medal bout, an unfazed Kaila Issoufi (FRA) took the lead with an early yuko against the former world champion. As Lanir increased the pressure in an effort to level the score, she overcommitted and was caught cleanly. Issoufi launched a precise sumi-gaeshi for waza-ari before securing the ippon with an osaekomi-waza. It was a brilliant bronze medal for the French athlete.
Final (-78 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-78 kg)
