Highlights From the Women’s Preliminaries - Day 5

Van Dijke might have thought she was on her way to a good day, taking out the number one, but she hadn’t accounted for the fast changes of direction that Ai Tsunoda Roustant would deliver, one of which caught her for a yuko, a margin just wide enough to eliminate her.

Tsunoda Roustant continued methodically, calmly all the way to the final. Unseeded but dangerous, the Spanish judoka picked her opponents off one by one, just as Aleksandra Andric (SRB) did in the second quarter. She delivered a crushing defeat to Olympic medallist Miriam Butkereit (GER) on her way to a semi-final. She lost to Tsunoda Roustant but gave herself the chance to fight for bronze; what a great performance.

There were further surprises afoot. Giovanna Scoccimarro (GER), not on a milestone podium since 2023, showed her intentions in Lausanne just a few weeks ago. A silver medal put her name back on the map and in Baku she used that momentum beautifully to defeat the 2025 world champion Shiho Tanaka. Three of the top four were already rejected from the medal race, all before the quarter-finals.

With one more quarter of the draw to think about, the unseeded warrior ready to upset the hierarchy was not without form. At the top of pool C, Aoife Coughlan (AUS) was ousted by double Olympic medallist Michael Polleres (AUT). Regardless of seeding and ranking, Polleres should never be underestimated! In Baku she went all the way to join Ai Tsunoda Roustant in the final.

Top 4 out, 5 unseeded athletes fighting for medals alongside 7th seed, Madina Taimazova (RUS)! It is unlikely many judo fans had their -70 kg predictions validated today!