Written in the stars, gold for Alice Bellandi

What an incredible day for the eight judokas on the podium. There were seven smiling faces, but the final was hard to digest for Ilia Sulamanidze, who lost his lead in the last half-minute. This led to the Hungarian referee giving him two shidos, allowing Zelym Kotsoiev to secure Azerbaijan's second gold medal of the week. After Hidayat Heydarov's victory in the -73kg category, Kotsoiev added to his world title with Olympic gold, marking Azerbaijan's third-ever Olympic judo gold.

Four countries celebrated their first medals at the Games today. Italy, thanks to Alice Bellandi, who affirmed her status as world number one in spectacular fashion. Israel, with Inbar Lanir and Peter Paltchik, placed two athletes on the podium. Portugal's Patricia Sampaio and China's Zhenzhao Ma also secured medals.

Bellandi had a magnificent competition, making up for past missed world titles with her Olympic gold. Focused from the start, she maintained pressure and never faltered. Each eight years the Italians claim a gold medal, but Bellandi had no words how she managed to win the gold medal. She was full of emotion and adrenaline, enough for a year of joy. 

Kotsoiev, the recent world champion and world number one, dazzled with his aerial judo, outmatching many opponents. Ilia Sulamanidze was the only one who seemed to have a strategy against him but couldn't maintain his lead against Kotsoiev's relentless attacks. Now both the reigning world champion and new Olympic champion, Kotsoiev is writing a significant chapter in his country's sports history.

Even Snoop Dogg attended the judo event in Paris, watching the stars of the day and witnessing Kotsoiev qualify for the final.

As of yesterday, 22 countries had reached the podium at the Paris 2024 Games. Tonight, that number has increased to 26, with Italy, Israel, Portugal, and China adding to the medal count in the women's -78kg category.