Leading the charge was cadet Dmitrijs Kolosovs, who took gold in the –90 kg category on home soil. “It’s a new kind of judo that we’re trying, and it’s great to do it in our home country, Latvia,” he said. “I’m very happy to be the first champion in this category.” For the young Latvian, the medal carried extra weight: “My opponent was very tough and it was hard to win but I waited for my moment. It means a lot, it’s the first European medal of my career. I will keep training and motivating myself to reach the top of the podium again.”
He was in good company. Alekss Patejenoks made it a Latvian double in the cadet men’s +90 kg, while Nikola Gluhovska claimed the cadet women’s –70 kg title. Junior Tits Kullo (–100 kg) and senior heavyweight Raivis Cakstins(+100 kg) completed a remarkable home haul of five golds on the day.
The most poignant story of the afternoon, though, belonged to Poland. In the senior men’s –100 kg, coach Radosław Zamecki took gold, by defeating his own athlete, Aleksander Raczek, in the final. “It was a special final because my opponent is my own athlete. I have known him since he was ten years old, and I’m his coach,” Zamecki said. “It was very difficult but I had a lot of fun, and I was happy to meet him there.” His reason for competing had nothing to do with the podium: “I didn’t come to Riga for a medal, just because I really love this. It was of course very tough to win here but I’m very happy.” Poland made it a clean sweep of the category, taking gold, silver and a bronze.
Ukraine’s Anna Kazakova rounded out the day’s champions with victory in the senior women’s –78 kg. With that, judo’s newest continental championship came to a close, a two-day celebration of the ‘ground game’ that leaves Europe with its first-ever cadet, junior and senior ne-waza champions, and a host nation, Latvia, with plenty to celebrate.