Since winning his Cadet European title in 2021, Yehonatan VEKSLER (ISR) showed great potential with his dynamic judo and fighting spirit. On day one of the Ljubljana European Open 2025, he transferred all of that energy in to a continental gold medal, his first as a senior athlete. At 21 years old, he has officially said goodbye to the junior tour and has sights set on one thing only, an Olympic gold medal.
The -60kg final against FECZKO Csanad (HUN) was an incredible head to head, and Veksler managed to switch direction, originally looking to throw forward with a huge grip around the back, but feeling the resistance, he redirected with ko soto gari to score an Open-winning waza ari.
I didn’t feel something special in the morning, actually I always think I’m going to lose the first fight! Then when I step on the mat, everything changes, I will fight all the way. It doesn’t matter how long the fight is, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, for me it’s nothing, I will never stop, my desire is too strong.
It hasn’t been an easy transition for Veksler, but his desire to be successful in judo has carried him through the tough times and to a gold medal on day one in Slovenia.
Last year was really hard for me, I had no success, no medals, so this feels amazing. The last time I took a gold medal was in 2021 in the Cadet European Championships. So for me, to take the gold in my first senior European Open, it’s great.
With every loss comes an opportunity to learn and better yourself, which is exactly what Veksler applied recently,
I’m 21, so I’m a senior now, a couple of weeks ago we had the championships in Israel and I took third place, I made a small mistake but I have stood up from this and came here to take gold. This is the only thing I want and I believe I was born for this, born to be in judo and take medals.
To walk away with the gold medal is such an amazing feeling because I felt like I’d injured my knee in my second fight – it’s moving a little more than usual! – but to take first place, its the best thing for every athlete. For me, this is just a little step toward that Olympic gold medal.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen