Sarah Loko unleashed in Sofia for Belgium

Sarah Loko will make her comeback in international judo at the European Open in Sofia for Belgium. The 29 year old former French, now defends the colors of Belgium. Danny Belmans, High Performance Manager, hopes Loko can qualify for Euro Kazan, Russia, in the end of April via various international events such as the European Open.

Loko was World Champion with the French team in 2007 and she won medals at the Tournoi de Paris U57kg in 2005 and captured various gold medals at World Cup events such as Grand Prix Qingdao in 2009, IJF World Cup in Cairo in 2010 and World Cup in Prague in 2011.

Since 2013 Loko works on her way back finding a fitting country. She already won a medal at the 2014 Belgian Championships but recently received her passport.

Loko missed the qualification for the Olympic Games in London in 2012 and meanwhile trained both judo as sambo and won European Games bronze in 2016 in Sambo.

Belmans will give Loko the chance to qualify for the Euro in the coming months. "Currently, she is part of our team B. She will fight at the European Open in Sofia and the Grand Slam Paris the following week and the Grand Prix Düsseldorf two weeks later. In March, she will tour in South America South at the Pan Am Opens. We hope she wins enough medals to go to Kazan. "

In 2009, Belgium Dutchman Elco van der Geest had been naturalised Belgian. A year later he became European champion in Vienna. In this moment Sandrine Billiet (76) is the highest ranked Belgian U63kg in the World Ranking.