Patricia Sampaio won a bronze medal in the up to 78 kg weight category

Portuguese judoka Patricia Sampaio won a bronze medal in the up to 78 kg weight category at the European Championships in Montpellier, France, on Sunday, defeating Dutchman Gushier Steenhuis in the decisive battle.

With this result, Portugal ends the European Championships with two medals after Catarina Costa won silver in the -48kg weight category on Friday.

Patricia Sampaio, 24 years old, who has been looking for a medal like this for a long time, she just hasn’t had the perfect path since she entered the arena of the Court de France, because a little earlier she met the world leader in her weight category and is a big favorite. Italian Alice Bellandi, who will become second in Europe.

Philharmonic judoka Guardim Pais leaves Montpellier with three victories, the last of which brought her bronze, and one defeat, which was her fifth European tournament after Sofia 2022, Lisbon 2021, Minsk 2019 and Tel Aviv 2018.

Facing Guussier Steenhuis, sixth in the world and her winner in the semi-finals of the 2022 European Championships, Sampaio dominated the fight from start to finish, first scoring a waza-ari at 54 seconds and then an ippon at 1.58 minutes. .

With a guaranteed medal against an opponent who was also not 100% ready after grazing his leg in the previous fight, Sampaio was able to show off his full judo skills, which guaranteed him several medals at the international level.

As soon as she scored in ippon and won bronze, the Portuguese judoka realized the importance of her long-awaited achievement – as one of the sport’s greatest promises – and allowed herself to fall to the mat.

Covering her face with her hands and taking a deep breath, the Portuguese put her hand to her heart and hugged coach Marco Morais, who knows her well even before the Europeans said that the judoka might miss a medal in one of these tournaments. big events.