In the last of the women’s categories at the 2026 European Championships Tbilisi, top seed and favourite for gold Raz Hershko (ISR) blazed a trail through the draw all the way to the final. There, she was lined up against Lea Fontaine (FRA), one of two very experienced French heavyweights in the draw.
One might have expected second seed Romane Dicko to contest the final, as a world champion and double Olympic medallist, but she struggled to find her rhythm and was thrown in golden score in the quarter-final by young Estonian Emma-Melis Aktas. Fontaine then defeated Aktas to book her place in the gold medal contest.
As the final began, Raz Hershko took no time at all to set up a winning throw. Little more than half a minute passed before she launched a powerful seoi-otoshi to roll Fontaine cleanly on to her back for ippon. There could be no doubt, no debate, Hershko came to win gold and that’s exactly what she did!
In the first bronze medal contest, Asya Tavano (ITA), who had passed teammate Erica Simonetti in the repechage, faced Emma-Melis Aktas. It was clear that both athletes had done their homework. Each stopped the other’s favourite techniques and neither could find a space in ne-waza to stretch ahead. At full time penalties were appearing but only for the Estonian judoka, two, in fact. As they went into extra time, Tavano was getting closer and closer to the score and after 3 minutes of extra time she applied an inescapable shime-waza to earn the all-important “ippon” call.
The final medal of the category would go to either Romane Dicko or Helena Vukovic (CRO) and Dicko was certain it would be hers. She arrived ready to apply pressure, attack hard and accept no other outcome. At the halfway point she forced Vukovic to the floor and held her for ippon. This is Romane Dicko’s 6th senior European medal. At 26-years-old, that’s quite a collection!
Author: Jo Crowley