Joe Crowley

The first of the two women’s categories to be fought to completion on day 3 in Linz was the -78 kg category. The final had been predicted from the beginning, Kurchenko and Reid having a stronghold over the group. The bronze medals were a little less predictable though.

Iosif Simin (ISR) and Anton Savitskiy (UKR) are both men who like to throw. They move constantly and search for openings and ways to unbalance the other, to their advantage. In the first bronze medal contest of the -100 kg category, they both arrived with this energy, the same energy which brought them through the preliminary rounds.

Going into the last day of competition in Linz, Japan led the medal table but with only two gold medals from the 9 categories fought. Italy also had two golds, won by brothers Antonio and Giovanni Esposito on day two but there were a number of silvers and bronzes for team Japan which kept them ahead. With several countries having 1 gold each, the top nation of the event was still unknown.

It has been such a great event in Linz that we were almost sad to welcome the +100 kg fighters into the arena for the final block, knowing that it is almost over. It has been a great last day!

The heavyweight women’s category produced some big throws on this third day in the Tips Arena. Although the two French women dominated, there were great performances throughout the day and from many athletes. The all-French final between two outstanding juniors, offered a glimpse into the future. Dicko, Fontaine, Hayme, Tolofua and others have been winning big senior medals for many years but there is a constant stream of new judoka to add to the list, Celia Cancan and Grace-Esther Mienandi Lahou among them.

There was a lot of excitement during the morning session on day two of the Upper Austria Grand Prix. Big throws, unexpected defeats and host nation success brought drama, suspense and noise to the venue and so there was tangible anticipation ahead of the final block.

Mardon Ravshanov (UZB) had a big task ahead of him as he stepped on to the tatami of the Tips Arena to compete for a bronze medal in the -73 kg category. Facing him was a home hero, Samuel Gassner (AUT), who had delighted the audience with his last-second wins, big throws and underdog charm all day. The crowd were behind him fully, chanting for him and willing him towards the podium.

The penultimate category of the day was the women’s -70 kg group. The spectators at the Tips Arena in Linz welcomed Kaja Schuster (SLO) and Gioia Vetterli (SUI) on to the tatami to fight for the first of two bronze medals.

The last category to assign its medals on day two of the 2025 Upper Austria Grand Prix was the men’s -81 kg category. the first medal, a bronze, was up for grabs and both Naoto Izawa (JPN) and Aurelien Bonferroni (SUI) looked well prepared and eager to get started.

Ariane Toro Soler (ESP) and Naomi Van Krevel (NED) delivered a great first medal contest in the -52 kg category at the Upper Austria Grand Prix. It could have gone either way but only one medal could be awarded between them.