Mayra Aguiar is back as Olympic medal favourite in Rio

They are enemies, they are colleagues, they are winners, but one had to lose today, they met 15 times and they are the best. Mayra Aguiar and Kayla Harrison showed that the weight category U78kg is the only category where Pan America can really dominate. Don’t say it too loud in Japan, but World Champion Umeki Mami was out quickly, or don’t say it too loud U48kg where Paula Pareto is World Champion and Sarah Menezes is the current Olympic Champion.

Nevertheless it doesn’t happen too often at world level that both Harrison and Aguiar are in the final. Although today the Brazilian secured a massive physical and physiological boost to move in front in their head-to-head series 8-7 and nine in finals. Among those finals Grand Slams of Rio (2011), Paris (2012), Tyumen (2014) and the World Championships final in 2010.

Still, it was the final that none French judo fans were hoping to see in Paris as World Number One Kayla Harrison was opposed to the fighter who is dreaming of the Olympic title in her home country this summer, Mayra Aguiar. But Aguiar did not give a chance to her main rival Harrison, who was thrown with a masterpiece uchi-mata for ippon.

Aguiar won four out of the last five head2heads now and cheered to be back at world level. For the Olympic champion the pain felt almost unbearable: “but I know from experience that this will make me stronger. That this moment will help to define me, and that because of this, on the day that counts, I will be perfect” Harrison said.

In the first semi-final Havana Grand Prix silver medallist Luise Malzahn was beaten by Harrison by a waza-ari while in the second semi-final Olympic silver medallist Gemma Gibbons succumb to Olympic bronze medallist and former world champion Mayra Aguiar on shido penalties 3:1. Notable: Gibbons did win against Audrey Tcheumeo (FRA).

The first bronze medal was claimed by World Judo Masters bronze medallist Natalie Powell (GBR) – her first on a Grand Slam stage - as she beat teammate Gibbons in a result which could determine the British representative at -78kg this summer. After a harai-goshi effort from Powell her opponent was penalised for passivity and again moments later. Both judoka were penalised for false attacks as Welsh judoka Powell, who won their only previous meeting in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games final, stretched her head-to-head lead to 2-0.

The second bronze medal contest featured the World Number 27, Laia Talarn (ESP) and the bronze medallist of the 2015 World Championships, Luise Malzahn. With a right handed o-soto-gari, Malzahn was the first one to put her opponent off balance but for no score. With the sumi-gaeshi that followed moments later, the German thought she had scored a yuko this time, but the video refereeing confirmed that there was no score again. Nevertheless Malzahn took a small advantage as Talarn was penalised for passivity. Finally the first score came from the Spanish side as Talarn counterattacked the ouchi-gari. Malzahn, who has more experience and who visibly was not capable of throwing, was clearly pushing her opponent to be penalised with the hope of a fourth shido. But eventually Malzahn threw her last forces into a beautiful ko-soto-gake for ippon and a clear victory.