French Coralie Hayme secures first IJF World Tour gold medal

Top-seeded Coralie Hayme of France lived up to her status in the +78kg category, where France has historically excelled, by qualifying for the final at the Zagreb Grand Prix. However, her journey was anything but smooth, as she faced stiff resistance from her opponents.

In the first round, Hayme quickly dispatched Ruslana Bulavina (UKR) with an immobilisation in under three minutes. Her second-round victory came even faster, defeating her opponent with a sumi-gaeshi and finishing with osae-komi-waza in just 1:39. The semi-final was more challenging, as Hayme needed over six minutes to overcome Erica Simonetti (ITA). Despite the extended battle, the 2021 junior world champion fulfilled expectations and reached the final.

In the other half of the draw, Brazil's Giovanna Santos faced Yuli Alma Mishiner (ISR) in a tactical semi-final, where Mishiner claimed victory to set up a final showdown with Hayme.

The final saw Hayme take a cautious approach in the first minute, observing her opponent. She then launched a powerful right-handed o-soto-gari for waza-ari, transitioning seamlessly into an osae-komi-waza, pinning Mishiner to secure the gold medal.

In the bronze medal contests, Giovanna Santos (BRA) won against Maria Hoellwart (AUT) after the Austrian received three penalties. In the second bronze medal match, Croatia's Helena Vukovic faced Erica Simonetti (ITA). The contest extended into golden score, where Simonetti executed a precise tsubame-gaeshi for waza-ari, dashing Vukovic's hopes for a podium finish.

Overall, Hayme’s victory and the high-quality techniques on display throughout the competition underscored the level of judo being practised, with several standout performances over the weekend.