For nearly 13 years, since 2011, when Bernadette Graf received Junior World Championship gold in Capetown, Judo Austria needed to watch for a World Championships Juniors title. 4,717 days later, Friday afternoon, redemption got here in DUSHANBE (TJK) and the Austrian nationwide anthem lastly rang out once more. “I cried on the rostrum, it was an extremely lovely second, particularly after such an epidemic 12 months,” beamed Elena DENGG. The 20-year-old middleweight has been affected by accidents to this point this season. A complete of 4 match appearances have been recorded thus far. “I felt like I used to be consistently injured: First I dislocated my thumb, then I broke a rib, and most just lately I had an out of doors ligament harm on my left knee. I even needed to miss the European Championships Juniors in Tallinn. And in the previous few days I’ve been in mattress with a chilly,” says Elena.
“After all you’re insecure when you might have just about no match expertise. It was tough. Solely my mother stored telling me to not lose religion in myself. Mother is often there on the tournaments. However as a instructor, she couldn’t take time without work for Dushanbe. An enormous thanks to mother, she gave me loads of braveness.”
Elena is thought for her reliability. Within the final 4 years, she had received 4 junior medals in 5 years by Friday afternoon, most notably European Championships Junior silver in Prague 2022 and World Championships Juniors bronze final 12 months in Odivelas. “She has improved loads bodily just lately, her grip preventing is superb. However what actually units Elena aside is her psychological energy,” says ÖJV head coach Yvonne Snir-Bönisch. “If she continues like this, she will be able to even be a menace to Michaela Polleres, world quantity 2 and two-time Olympic medal winner.”
On Friday afternoon in Dushanbe, the knot burst and Elena lastly received her first main title. “At the moment all the pieces felt really easy for me proper from the beginning. The Ouchi-gari labored right away and I shortly received into the rhythm. My idea: keep aggressive, use a powerful grip.”
She stormed into the ultimate with victories over Holly DEVALL (GBR), Finuza AZAMOVA (IJF), Huiting YUAN (CHN) and Rin MAEDA (JPN). “I used to be a bit sorry to win the semi-final by disqualification. I’d have most well-liked to win with one throw. However, guidelines are there to be adopted. It’s occurred to me earlier than,” mentioned Elena Dengg.
Within the ultimate for World Championships gold, the quantity 5 within the IJF junior rating met an previous acquaintance: April Lynn FOHOUO (SUI), 19. Dengg had prevailed in all three earlier duels, most just lately within the 2023 bronze fights for European Championships and World Championships bronze in The Hague and Odivelas. “We have now comparable preventing types. I knew I needed to be extra aggressive, maintain my grip. Nevertheless it was by no means as robust as this time.” Internet combat time: 7:46 minutes.
Ultimately, it was the Ouchi-gari once more, her signature throw. “I couldn’t consider my eyes how usually Elena succeeded together with her favourite method at present. She was on a mission and deserved to win gold at present,” praised nationwide coach Jaromir JEZEK. The newly topped U-21 world champion merely mentioned: “It makes me proud to have received the title with a wonderful throw.” Her first large title – now Elena can lastly win gold!
Creator: EJU Media
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