Dutch judoka Joanne van Lieshout destroys the records and expectations

The Grand Prix of Portugal greeted another sensation on Saturday as Dutch teen Joanne van Lieshout claimed the gold medal in her category U63kg. In the final Van Lieshout defeated Iva Oberan of Croatia within 100 seconds in the contest. The 19-year old Van Lieshout is among the top 25 youngest ever female winners of a Grand Prix.

Van Lieshout started statically at the match against Oberan after within 90 seconds she overtook an attack of Oberan and the Croatian fell flat on her back although first a wazari was given by the Spanish referee.  In her first outing on a Grand Prix she managed to take revenge on Iva Oberan after she lost to her in May at the European Open in Zagreb final. Iva Oberan is Croatian, three years older, just a little more experience in the senior world, but with the same ambition. 

In a mili second Van Lieshout anticipated with a ko uchi gari after good steering with her right arm which brought Oberan to the ground. Van Lieshout had a bye in the first round as one of the seeded players. She defeated Wilsa Gomes of Portugal in her first contest and could hold off Katarina Kristo, the second Croatian in the quarter final. Although the field is not spectacular strong, Van Lieshout does bring in her fire and was also too strong for Cristina Cabana of Spain in the semis.

The Junior World Champion seems to pick up the pace at senior level immediately and had won the European U23 title in 2020. She was a promising fighter already in 2019 when she won the European Youth Olympic Festival. At Dutch Championships she won the titles in all age categories since her 15^th. Her parents were both judoka at high level, her mother even internationally, but the mental health of this teen is astonishing and she is another asset U63kg for the Dutch team that has Sanne Vermeer and Geke van den Berg as rivals for an Olympic spot. Certainly is that Van Lieshout wrote her signature for that Olympic adventure here in Portugal and is definitely on track to fight until the last moment.

Youngest ever winners of a Grand Prix

The youngest ever woman to win a Grand Prix was Uta Abe at the age of 16 in Düsseldorf in 2017, followed by Daria Bilodid a few months later in The Hague at the 17th. Van Lieshout improved the record of Sanne Vermeer who took gold at a Grand Prix in Tbilisi in 2019 at the age of 20, also in this same weight category.

The first bronze medal went to the Czech Renata Zachova, who was able to stop another young promise from the Croatian school, Katarina Kristo. 

The Spanish athlete, Cristina Cabaña Pérez, was going like a rocket towards the final when she made a mistake in the semi-final and was left with honey on her lips. In the fight for bronze against the Romanian Florentina Ivanescu, the Spaniard made the same mistake, losing concentration after scoring waza-ari. Cabaña Pérez conceded a waza-ari too and then a second one. She was left without gold and without bronze because Ivanescu knew how to take advantage of her moment.