First Grand Prix gold for Mireia Lapuerta Comas

At the Grand Prix in Zagreb Mireia Lapuerta Comas came out as the winner U48kg and booked her first World Tour victory in her career. She did take bronze at the Grand Slam in Paris and bronze at the GP in Portugal, but the highest podium was for the Spaniard this time.

Serbian Milica Nikolic though arrived as the number one seed U48kg and decided she would prove her ranking, removing all obstacles, Petit (BEL), Stangar (SLO) and Martinez Abelenda (ESP) included. The world number 6 dominated wherever necessary and was able to regain composure under even the strongest challenge; a very mature and concentrated performance.

Milica Nikolic and Mireia Lapuerta Comas fought for only a minute and a half but with enough action to fill a normal 4 minutes of judo. The finish came with a high attack from the Serbian which the Spanish fighter was ready for. Lapuerta Comas picked Nikolic up off the floor and launched her backwards with an enormous ura-nage and the contest was over. It was a great gold medal heading to Spain, adding to Martinez Abelenda’s bronze, and a silver to add to Serbia’s 5th place from Stojadinov.

Speaking of Stangar, she may have lost to Nikolic but she otherwise had a strong day, beating Amanda Lima (BRA) and then beating  Menz (GER) in the repechage before heading into the final block to face Nikolic’s domestic rival Stojadinov, also in good shape here in Zagreb, only losing out to Lapuerta Comas (ESP) at the end of a lengthy golden score battle.

Elsewhere in the draw we saw Laborde (USA) return to the tatami after her incredible silver-medal-winning performance in Hungary last week. She placed 7th after losing out to Stojadinov in the quarter-final. But still leaves with some valuable world ranking points.

The first bronze medal contest between Marusa Stangar (SLO), 3 time grand prix winner, and the Tashkent gold medallist from this year Stojadinov, began with fierce gripping exchanges and no fear of the transition phases. It was fast and focussed for the first minute before Stangar settled into her rhythm and took charge. She looked stronger, more confident and truly unforgiving of any mistake. In a transition tussle she left no space for escape and held the Serbian down for ippon with tate-shiho-gatame.

The second bronze medal contest between Abuzhakynova (KAZ) and Martinez Abelenda did not last long as the Spanish judoka committed all of her energy to the task of winning. Inside the first 30 seconds she threw the Kazakh with osoto-gari for waza-ari and immediately applied a kesa-gatame which looked cemented. However, Abuzhakynova does not give up easily and she lifted her legs to trap the Spaniard and force toketa but the reprieve was short-lived the hold was re-applied, this time without gaps and with a properly pegged ten seconds for the all-important second score.

One hundred and ninety-two athletes warmed up to compete on day one in Zagreb. This is a clear sign that Olympic qualification has passed the midway stage and now every single point has significance and emphasis. No points are halved anymore, not from Mongolia on, from the end of last June until a few months from now when the lists will freeze and we will know exactly who to expect in Paris.

Profile Mireia Lapuerta Comas

We know Spanish judoka Mireia Lapuerta Comas for quite a while. She took bronze at the Junior European Championships in Sofia in 2018 and in 2019. She was European Champion for cadets in 2016. Mireia took silver at the European U23 Championships 2019 in Izhevsk and bronze in Budapest in 2021. In the IJF World Tour she captured a bronze medal at the Grand Slam in Paris in 2023 and the gold medal at the Grand Prix in Zagreb this time. She took bronze at the GP Portugal in 2023. She claimed a bronze medal at the Grand Slam in Tel Aviv. Last year she bagged bronze at the Grand Slam in Antalya and bronze at the Grand Prix in Budapest in 2022. She triumphed at the European Open in Riccione in 2022.