Patricia Sampaio of Portugal was the star of the show in the -78kg category, overcoming the fast-rising Anna Monta Olek of Germany to claim her first senior European title. It was a tough contest, but the Olympic bronze medallist delivered when it mattered most, scoring with a powerful seoi nage. Sampaio became the sixth Portuguese to win the European title. Telma Montieor is without any doubt topscorer with six titles. Sampaio is the second Portuguese women.
Sampaio reflected on the achievement:
“This year I had set myself two goals, a European gold and a World gold. Now I’ve checked one of them off, but I still can’t believe it. After the Olympic Games medal, I had no words and here I am again and I still haven’t found them. I really felt so strong today and good in myself, in my head. I know I’ve grown so much in the past year and now I have the medal to show for it. It has all been down to work, work, work. I did it!”
In the battle for bronze, Yuliia Kurchenko of Ukraine was the first to step on the podium, defeating Great Britain’s Emma Reid with a massive, driving o-uchi-gari. The second bronze medal contest featured an all-French clash between Fanny Estelle Posvite and five-time European Champion Audrey Tcheumeo. Though Tcheumeo had the historical edge, it was Posvite who came out on top this time, securing the win with a clean osoto-otoshi.