Paris 2024 judo: All results, as Andreja Leski of Slovenia wins gold in women’s -63kg
Slovenia’s Andreja Leski turned the tide against Mexico’s Prisca Awiti Alcaraz to win the gold medal in the women’s -63kg judo competition at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, held at the Champ-de-Mars Arena on Tuesday 30 July.
Awiti Alacaraz took the early lead in the match, scoring a spectacular waza-ari to put Leski on the back foot. However, the Slovenian judoka fought back, responding with a decisive waza-ari and osaekomi-waza combination to steal victory from the Mexican judoka.
It was the ideal ending to Leski’s Olympic debut, with the Slovenian saying, “It feels very right. I had a feeling that it’s my day. I have prepared for this day for a long time. I had in mind [that] I needed to go to all five fights and put my soul into them. It was perfect."
Still, it wasn’t a stressless victory for Leski, who had to overcome Awiti Alcaraz’s early attacks.
“I needed a little drama, " Slovenia's newest judo champion said with a laugh. “It was unfortunate. She did a tomoe-nage, and she surprised me there."
However, Leski was full of surprises herself. She stunned Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Clarisse Agbegnenou of France in the semi-finals, scoring a late waza-ari to beat the judoka who had twice ended her hopes of winning a world championship.
In fact, it was a day full of surprises as Mexico’s Awiti Alcaraz, ranked 18th in the world, became the first judoka from her nation to win a medal at the Olympic Games.
Fighting her way through the early rounds to earn a spot in the semi-finals, she prepared for her final matches by watching Netflix, seeing family and eating a pre-match meal.
Her relaxed approach to the semi-finals and gold-medal match seemed to pay off, as the Mexican judoka beat Kosovo’s Laura Fazliu in the semi-finals and gave Slovenia’s Leski a fright in the final.
Reflecting on her historic silver medal, Awiti Alcaraz said, “It hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe it has for my family. It's all a bit surreal.”
It wasn’t the result Agbegnenou desired, but the French judo star was thankful to earn a bronze medal in front of her daughter Athena.
“She gave me a lot of courage,” said Agbegnenou. “It’s in her that I’ve found even more power.
“It has been a very long time since I have felt that strong. I have a stronger body, I feel good. Maternity gives power.”
Agbegnenou needed all the power offered by maternity after suffering a shock semi-final loss to eventual gold medalist Leski.
She returned to the tatami to face Austria’s Lubjana Piovesana for the bronze medal.
Buoyed by a supportive crowd and the presence of her family, Agbegnenou found the strength to defeat Piovesana and secure another medal for the host nation.
“I wasn’t focused for the first minutes, and then my coach told me to wake up because otherwise I would be even more disappointed and lose it all,” said Agbegnenou.
She embraced her family after earning the bronze medal, taking her daughter Athena in her arms and listening to the crowd’s thunderous applause.
It was another story of redemption for Kosovo’s Fazliu, who took the second bronze-medal match after losing her semi-final against Awiti Alcaraz. A hansoku-make call against Croatia’s Katarina Kristo was ultimately enough for her to leave the City of Lights with a bronze medal.
Judo: Women’s -63kg podium
Gold: Andreja Leski, SLO
Silver: Prisca Awiti Alcaraz, MEX
Bronze: Clarisse Agbegnenou, FRA
Bronze: Laura Fazliu, KOS
See all the results on Olympics.com.