German heavyweight Renee Lucht transcends her level

The roster for women in the +78 kg category at the Grand Slam in Tbilisi was a catalogue of serious names and the winner will certainly have done something special in Tbilisi. Germany’s Renee Lucht has had a brilliant day and did herself a big favour in the qualification race for Paris.

Renee Lucht kept the momentum going much to French Carolie Hayme's surprise. The first three minutes were quite even but in the last 60 seconds Lucht accelerated and managed to throw for a waza-ari just seconds before the end. Not content with the small score, she held the grip and converted her lead into a hold down, taking the full ippon win and gold.

The first bronze medal would go to Hyeonji Lee (KOR), who won against the number one seed in the repechage, or Sone. The Olympic champion struggled throughout the contest to break the balance of her opponent, often losing the grip during her seoi-otoshi attempts. In golden score she earned a 3rd and final penalty and Kim, who had been looking for the stronger, more upright attacks, won the medal.

The second bronze medal was for Tavano (ITA), who had lost to Lucht in her quarter-final but then beat the Brazilian number two seed in the repechage, or Idalys Ortiz. In a long and close battle it was eventually the Italian who won on penalties.

Two Olympic champions were in play in Tbilisi in the heavyweight women’s category, Idalys Ortiz (CUB) and Akira Sone (JPN). Both looked set to obliterate the opposition, winning early regardless of challenge.

They reached their semi-finals, Ortiz beating one of the Chinese Olympic hopefuls and 4th seed Su along the way. It was a stronger and more robust Ortiz than we have seen at recent outings. She’s preparing for a Games and no-one knows how to do that than the four time Olympic medallist from Cuba.

Sone also had a very sharp morning, passing the number 2 seed, Souza (BRA), countering an osoto-gari attempt for waza-ari and concluding with a hold. In her semi-final though, it all came undone, when Renee Lucht (GER) caught a waza-ari with a counter at the 3 minute mark and protected the score until the end of normal time. Against all predictions, including perhaps those of Renee Lucht herself, the German made it to the final and she did it well.

Ortiz then went the same way, losing to an inspired Coralie Hayme (FRA) by hold down. Hayme knows she won’t get the Games this year as her teammate and world number one Dicko already has the ticket but the French heavyweight school remains impressive among the women and today it was the turn of Hayme to step up.