Julia Figueroa, to the assault of the European of judo in Bulgaria

Julia Figueroa returns to the tatami this Friday and does it in style, to face a European Judo Championship in Sofia (Bulgaria) in which the Cordovan aspires to get on the podium. An aspiration that is well founded, since he starts as the fourth favorite in the minimum weight category, -48 kilograms, in which in a few months a new Olympic cycle will start that he hopes to crown in Paris 2024, with what would be his third participation in some Games.

Before the points of each test begin to count for the Olympic race, something that will happen from the month of June, Julia Figueroa wants to take a step forward and hang a medal in this demanding European Championship that will meet in the capital of Bulgarian to six of the 15 best fighters in their category.

The Cordovan part as fourth seed, thanks to that tenth position in the world ranking of -48 kilograms. Ahead of her, as the three main favorites, are the French Shirine Boukli, the Portuguese Catarina Costa and the Israeli Shira Rishony. They will not be the only dangerous competitors for Figueroa, because behind there are women to take into account such as the Italian Francesa Milani or the Serbian Milika Nikolic.

While waiting for the draw for the final draw, Julia Figueroa will leave as the woman to beat at one of those extremes of the quadrant, which in theory should facilitate her path to the metals, although each fight in the European Championship It will be a tough test to overcome. The clearest example is the Cordovan in the European last year, in which she could not get past seventh place, despite also starting as one of the favorites.

After hanging the bronze medal in Tel Aviv, in what was her last international appearance back in February, Julia Figueroa wants to touch the medal again in a first level event to face the start of the Olympic ranking that will arrive in June with morale through the roof, on the way to those desired third Olympic Games that should arrive for her in Paris 2024.