Overall: seven medals brought victory to Russian judoka in Lausanne

The Russian national judo team took first place in the medal standings at the Grand Slam tournament, which was held in Lausanne from 28 to 30 August. Our athletes have won two gold, one silver and four bronze medals. The Japanese team took the second place (2-1-3), the Germans became the third (2-1-0). The Russians performed in Switzerland under the country's flag and accompanied by the national anthem.

The long-awaited rematch

On the opening day of the Grand Slam, Marina Vorobyova rose to the top of the podium in the lightest category up to 48 kg. In the very first bout, she beat the representative of Paraguay, Gabriela Narvaez, and in the next round she was able to beat and throw an experienced vice-world champion, a medalist of the Olympic Games in Paris, French Shirin Boucli, to the South. Vorobyova's quarterfinal bout with Turkish Merv Azak, the winner of the highest awards of the Junior World Cup, became dramatic. Several times, the Russian put her opponent in a dangerous position with her signature pistol coup, collecting one after another "sko" and eventually reached the semifinals with a baggage of three marks, where she again worked hard on the ground floor and painfully achieved a clean victory over 18-year-old Brazilian Clarice Ribeiro.

In the decisive match of the day, Vorobyova competed against European and World Championships medalist Laura Martinez. In the second minute, the Spaniard missed a shot at the waza-ari, and a minute later, once in the stalls, she capitulated from a severe pain. There is the first gold in Russia's piggy bank and in Marina Vorobyova's personal collection.

— This is my first "adult" gold medal in the international arena, — Marina Vorobyeva told the press service of the Judo Federation. — Of course, the flag and the anthem give it special value! I've been dreaming of having it performed in honor of my victory ever since we were given the opportunity to perform with Russian symbols again. I have always done and will continue to do everything to win and prove that I am the strongest in this weight class. I am very glad that in Lausanne I managed to complete the path without mistakes and even cope with those rivals to whom I had previously lost. The most important thing for me in Switzerland was the Frenchwoman Boucli, who was the one I lost to because of my own mistakes at two European championships in a row.

One of the most experienced members of our national team, Ramazan Abdulaev, started in the 66 kg category with a convincing victory in Golden Score over Azizbek Ortikov from Uzbekistan, and then he was able to win in the stalls against Swiss John Weisenegger with a crown knot. In the quarterfinals, our athlete tactically outplayed the representative of Kazakhstan, Akylzhan Zhubatkanov, and confidently began a duel for reaching the finals with the Japanese Kairi Kentoku. With a lightning sweep, our athlete got a "skko" at the beginning of the fight, but then in a tight fight he missed a series of opponent's throws and failed to catch up.

In the small final with Ukrainian Vadim Chernov, Ramadan, although he missed the opponent's cut first ("sko"), then he was able to recoup, and in the third minute Golden Score achieved a decisive advantage and won another medal in his personal collection.

— Am I happy with the result? Yes, although, like any athlete, I am ambitious and always want only gold," Ramazan Abdulayev emphasized. "But bronze is better than nothing." And if you think about it, out of 45 participants in my category with medals, only four ended up, and I was among them, that's not bad. I'm slowly gaining a rating. Tournaments are also a kind of preparation stages for the main starts, an opportunity to score qualification points for the 2028 Games. There are two years left before the Olympics, we need to approach the official start in good shape and win there.

The most striking: Russia has returned to the elite of judo

Two gold, silver and four bronze medals brought our team the third place at the European Championship in Tbilisi

Confirmation of status

On the second day of the Grand Slam in Lausanne, our athletes failed to reach gold, but they showed decent results. Danil Lavrentiev confidently advanced to the finals in the 73 kg category. A native of Kurgan started the day with a "waza-ari" with Bulgarian Mark Hristov, then Meilis Shamuradov from Turkmenistan passed by one "sko". The quarterfinal with Hungary's Aron Gabor ended with a hold, and the semifinal with world number one Tajik Muhiddin Asadulloev ended with a pain in the first minute. Daniel Karnin, the Brazilian bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, was waiting for Danil in the final.

Lavrentiev made a powerful start in the decisive bout — in the first seconds he threw his opponent with a classic throw over the head of "sumi-gaeshi" at "yuko". Then he dodged the Brazilian's attempt to throw through his chest, transferring the fight to the stalls — 30 seconds in this position did not reveal the strongest. The opponents scored "shido" twice, and a minute before the end, Karnin caught Danil on the "ippon".

— The price of his own stupidity is that he gave away a completely won meeting: one chance was enough for the opponent, — Lavrentiev complained. — They didn't prepare any special tactics for him — everything was going according to plan, I just missed this moment. I think this silver is especially important to me — it's something I'll be working on before the World Championships.

In the 70 kg category, Madina Taymazova dealt with Israeli Adelina Nowitzki in the first ippon bout, followed by Kelly Petersen—Pollar from Great Britain in less than a minute. Next, the bronze medalist of the 2020 Olympics passed the owner of the tatami, April Lynn Fohuo. The semifinal with her principal rival, German Miriam Butkerite, became a turning point for the Russian. Timazova conceded on the comments. In the small final, Timazova managed to cope with the Frenchwoman Clemence Aime.

"To be honest, I'm ashamed to talk about the semi—final with Bootcorrect, because I already lost to her in Qingdao in the same way," Madina Taymazova admitted. — I sort of disassembled it and thought about how to act, but the same situation has developed again. Now we will take a very specific approach to the analysis of this particular opponent, and I hope that we will fix everything in the near future," said Taimazova. — As for my current form, I'm much better at winning on the ground right now. In the past, I was usually either carried away or pumped out after fights in the stalls. And now I'm already acting on my own, the rivals in the stalls are already afraid of me. I'll give myself a four for the Lausanne tournament.

On the third and final day of the Grand Slam in Lausanne, five sets of medals were awarded, and our judoka took three awards at once. Two-time world champion Inal Tasoev confirmed the status of the favorite and took gold in the over 100 kg category. Bronze medals were won by Maria Ivanova (over 78 kg) and Egor Andoni (under 90 kg).