Ukrainian won “gold” continental championship in weight up to 57 kg.
The Ukrainian judo teamwon the first medal at the European Championship 2024, which started in Croatia Zagreb. Daria Bilodid won gold in the weight category up to 57 kg.
On the way to the final, the 23-year-old native of Kyiv defeated Finland Pihla Salonen (two-time medalist of the Junior Euros – 2022 and 2023 ), Azerbaijani Acelia Toprak, Israeli Timna Nelson-Levy (bronze medalist of the 2020 Olympics and European champion 2022), Georgian Eteri Liparteliani (bronze medalist of the 2022 European Championship).
In the decisive battle for gold In extra time, Bilodid defeated Slovenian Kaja Kaiser (silver medalist of Euro 2021), who received a red card.
For Bilodid, this is the first “gold” at the level of the European and World Championships after changing the weight category. Until 2022, she competed in the weight category up to 48 kg, in which she also won bronze at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Daria became the European champion for the third time – in 2017 and 2019 she won gold at the continental championship in the weight category up to 48 kg. In the same weight, the Ukrainian became the silver medalist of Euro 2021.
This is also Bilodid’s second medal in the 2024 season. Previously, she won bronze at the Grand Slam tournament in Baku.