The Russian Inal Tasoev, reigning co-world champion with the Frenchman Teddy Riner and current world number 1 in +100 kg, was crowned European champion for the second time in his career, Saturday April 27 at the Euro Zagreb judo. During an intense final, the Russian beat the Georgian Guram Tushishvili, Olympic vice-champion in Tokyo.
Beaten by Riner in the final of the 2023 Worlds, Tasoev finally recovered a gold medal the next day after an arbitration imbroglio. There were no discussions this time, the Russian taking advantage of an error from the Georgian to score ippon after two minutes of fighting.
Tasoev thus allowed the Russian athletes, who fight under a neutral flag, to win their second title of the day. A few moments earlier, Matvey Kanikovskiy had indeed won in the -100 kg category. In the other categories of the day, Azerbaijan’s Eljan Hajiyev won in the -90 kg category, while 2021 Olympic champion Lasha Bekauri settled for bronze.
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Among the women, Frenchwoman Audrey Tcheuméo won a fifth title in -78 kg and Israeli Raz Hershko won in +78 kg. The competition concludes on Sunday with the team event.
