Julia Figueroa, a judoka from Cordoba, won the first gold of her career in a top-level international event by winning the Grand Slam de Abu Dhabi. Figueroa won the -48 kilos final over the Italian Francesca Milani. An ‘ippon’ at 3.15 minutes from the start of the fight gave him victory in this important competition, to which he went in search of points in the world ranking -it is number three- with a view to tickets for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
Julia Figueroa began the competition by defeating the Turkish Merve Azak in the round of 16. She subsequently beat Kazakh Abuzhakyn in the quarters. She opened the doors to the fight for the title by winning by a tight 1-0 score against the Portuguese Catarina Costa. The fight for gold was won by the woman from Cordoba after an agonizing fight between the two contenders.
Four medals in 2022
Figueroa, 31 years old, has risen in 2022, with gold conquered in the United Arab Emirates, four times on the podium in a top-level international competition. He was first bronze in February at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam. Later he repeated third place in April at the European Championships in Sofia, an event in which he achieved his second medal in an absolute European championship. In July he settled with an excellent silver the presence in the Grand Slam de Budapest. Just a few weeks ago he was one step away from the podium at the World Championships in Tashkent, as he finished in fifth place.
Participating for the third time in the Olympic Games is the dream of the current number 3 in the world ranking. At the moment he has competed in 2016 in Rio and in 2021 in Tokyo.
