Lea Fontaine take first IJF World Judo Tour gold

It's very interesting to see that France is again present in the final +78lkg at the Grand Slam in Antalya, already dominated by another Frenchwoman, Romane Dicko, absent in Antalya. There is a real judo school for +78kg in France and the results show.

We can no longer say that Raz Hershko (ISR) is one of the underdogs. Competition after competition, she gains confidence and gives herself a chance to get on the podium. After a serious and flawless run, she qualified for the final against Léa Fontaine (FRA) who had defeated her own teammate Julia Tolofua in the semi-final.

After a first shido given to Hershko for false attack, it was Fontaine's turn to be penalised for passivity twice, as the Israeli athlete was attacking non-stop to compensate for the difference in size. Even though she tried very hard, she could not avoid being pinned by an opportunist Fontaine, on the floor. This is the first medal in a grand slam for the French competitor.

Julia Tolofua, defeated in the semi-final, had to settle for the smaller final against Adiyasuren Aarsaikhan (MGL). Less than a minute was needed for Tolofua to win with an immobilisation for ippon.

In the second match for a bronze medal, Marit Kamps (NED) faced Renee Lucht (GER). However, as the latter could not participate, the medal went to Marit Kamps.

Turkish Judo Federation President Sezer Huysuz who has been following almost all the matches of the 2022 edition of the Antalya Grand Slam. A former athlete himself who competed on the international scene, he has judo running through his veins, "I miss being on the tatami of course and will always miss that adrenaline and excitement but today my role is different. As the President of the Turkish Federation, I can say that I am happy, because the Antalya Grand Slam went well and it is a great success. I have seen really good judo. I must say that I want more results for our national team, but we are in the process of building a team to be ready and successful in Paris 2024."

The Antalya Grand Slam has been on the World Judo Tour calendar for many years and "This event is getting stronger and stronger. We are really happy with that. I know that all delegations appreciate coming here. There is a really high quality of judo. Especially this year, I saw beautiful ippon scores and positive judo. Of course, because of the Covid pandemic, we were still lacking the public, but this will improve in the future. We still have to do everything possible to guarantee the safety of all participants. The Antalya Grand Slam is a fantastic development tool for judo here in Turkey and everywhere in the world."