Melkia Auchecorne steps into the footlight of Lucie Decosse

Melkia Auchecorne from France took a bronze medal at the Junior Worlds in Guayaquil in 2022. With the team of France she took the Junior European title in 2022 in Prague. She captured a silver medal at the European Championships for Junior in The Hague in 2023. This time she won the world title in Odivelas. The previous Junior World Champion in this weight category was Lucie Decosse. Those are big shoes to fill as successor.

With her rank as world number one, Melkia Auchecorne (FRA) arrived in Odivelas with certainties, that she had the capacity to win, but with doubts perhaps also, given that the other categories had not necessarily been easy for the top seeds. What is certain is that she did not show many doubts on her way to reaching the final. In a dynamic and powerful style, with a certain amount of risk-taking, she eliminated each of the opponents who stood in her way. She has the luck to train with Clarisse Agbegnenou who is of course a big example of the youngster who went to Odivelas to have fun and to win in Odivelas. She believed in herself througout the day. About today she cannot have any regrets, which was the goal for today.

In the second half of the draw, it was Mizuki Takaki (JPN) who fought her way through the elimination stages to give Japan another chance at a gold medal, the sixth of these world championships.

Looking at the first part of the final, Melkia Auchecorne could have had regrets. Obviously stronger than her opponent and potentially more dangerous, she seemed to be walking with a low pace, totally out of energy and giving away opportunities to win an important world title but in golden score, two shido behind and in danger, the French judoka executed a seoi-otoshi that was awarded a waza-ari. Melkia Auchecorne won the gold and with this title, France climbs the ladder to enter the top ten nations.

Nina Simic (CRO) and Anna Kriza (HUN) faced one another in the first bronze medal contest. When Anna Kriza launched her ko-soto-gari, she put 100 percent of her power into it, but Nina Simic executed the perfect move and with a brilliant ko-uchi-sukashi, she drove her opponent flat on her back for ippon and a bronze medal.

The last bronze medal contest saw Jimin Yang (KOR) and Martyna Glubiak (POL) stepping on to the tatami to determine who will go to the podium. Golden score started with one shido apiece. Jimin Yang was penalised two more times, offering the victory and the medal to Martyna Glubiak.