She is Olympic champion, World champion and now finally she is European champion: Italy’s Alice Bellandi completed her impressive title collection at the European Judo Championships Seniors 2026 Tbilisi on Sunday with a victory over Emma Reid of Great Britain.
“It’s amazing, it was something that I was always missing,” Bellandi said. “Last time I competed, I lost in the last second. I believe that every title, every competition, gives you something special. Every competition, you go through a journey that is different from the other one. This one was great.“
Funny enough, Bellandi revealed that she is still missing the national Italian title. Bellandi was able to overcome the pressure and perform like the champion she is. “Sometimes the pressure comes more from yourself than from the [people] around us and it’s really important to try to manage, work on this, work on everything that is inside of it,” she noted.
The Olympic Champion had her strategy and she stuck to it. “All of us are longtime opponents, every one of us. Every time it’s a new challenge and we know each other really well. So for me today, I told myself to just stay focused, don’t get nervous if I couldn’t throw what I wanted, or if my tactic was not going where it was supposed to go. That was the main thing, stay focused and take one fight after the other.”
Now, Bellandi first wants to enjoy having won this missing major title and then move forward. “It’s really fresh,” she said. “You need to process all the emotions and give yourself time and try to focus another goal. Give time to yourself, then just get on your feet and go forward again.”
Author: Tatjana Flade