Priscilla Gneto wins Grand Prix gold with 10 years gap

The 2019 junior world medallist Pleuni Cornelisse (NED) managed to reach the first grand prix final of her career, where she met Priscilla Gneto (FRA), Olympic bronze medallist in London 2012. It took her 10 years after her last Grand Prix victory (in Baku) to regain the gold at Grand Prix level, a huge gap.

The last final of the day was also the shortest as Gneto, not upset by the defeat of her sister in the final of the lower category, propelled Cornelisse to the ceiling with a superb counterattack to conclude the day with a second gold medal for team France.

Junior European champion in 2016, Pauline Starke (GER) reached the bronze medal contest against her teammate Caroline Fritze (GER), bronze medallist at a continental open only so far. The latter didn't give any chance to her opponent, scoring twice with massive attacks, the first after only a few seconds for a waza-ari and the second with a massive right-handed morot-seoi-nage, this time for ippon.

Kosovo has become one of the major players in international judo, now with three Olympic champions in the country. Flaka Loxha (KOS) might represent the new generation of great future champions for Kosovo. Today she reached the bronze medal contest against Kaja Kajzer (SLO), already the holder of six medals at grand prix level. After almost one minute of golden score, Kajzer notched up a waza-ari with a shoulder movement to win the bronze medal. Flaka Loxha will have to wait a little more until she reaches the level of her illustrious teammates, but her time will come.

Read more about the biggest ever gap between two Grand Prix gold medals