By Uwe Flegel
More than 5,000 kilometers and 9 flight hours lie between the Murr Valley and the Uzbek capital of Tashkent. Nevertheless, it is possible that one or the other in Backnang heard a shout of joy yesterday afternoon at around two-thirty. If so, then it probably came from Katharina Menz, who fought at the Judo World Championships in the former Soviet republic. Two days before their 32nd birthday, the TSG lightweight won silver. Only the Japanese defending champion Natsumi Tsunoda managed to stop Menz – in the final. For the seven-time German champion in the class up to 48 kilograms, it is the greatest international success of her career to date. And: It is probably the greatest success that an athlete from Backnang has achieved in an Olympic sport so far.
Katharina Menz will probably not be aware of the second, and the former was also rather difficult for her to understand yesterday. “I’m really happy about silver, I’ll need a little more before I understand that,” said the Vice World Champion, beaming and then explaining: “My goal was to finish in the top five.” That in itself would be a huge achievement for the fighter who won bronze with the German team at the Olympic Games in Tokyo but was eliminated early on in the individual competition. In the title fights in Tashkent, almost everything went right for the Backnanger native. Even the premonitions, the jubilant fighter reported: “This morning I had the image of the gold medal in my head. I was so focused and always had that picture in my head.”
On the way to precious metal, Menz clears a few big chunks out of the way
That was motivation and gave strength for a real feat by the TSG athlete. Because on her way to precious metal, the 24th in the world rankings had to clear some big chunks out of the way. For example, in the second round, the Portuguese Catarina Costa, fourth in the world rankings. After Menz had won her opening duel against Jennie Muneme from Mozambique without a fight because her opponent did not appear, she mostly set the tone against Vice-European Champion Costa and also kept her nerve in extra time, the so-called golden score. A Seoi Nage (shoulder throw) brought the German into the next round after 53 seconds. It was over after 55 seconds because Italy’s Francesca Milani (14th in the world rankings) launched an illegal attack and was disqualified. In the pool final, Menz met Mary Vargas from Chile (17th), against whom she had lost at the Olympic Games and was eliminated. The revenge succeeded. The backnanger got a Waza-Ari after three minutes and defended it confidently.
Another shoulder throw, another waza-ari, another round
This made it to the semi-finals and at least fifth place. It became more. Because even the Spaniard Julia Figueroa (8th), who had previously defeated the Japanese Olympic silver medalist Funa Tonaki, could not stop the TSG fighter. A deep Seoi-Nage by Menz after a good three minutes was again evaluated with a Waza-Ari and again the backnanger brought the lead over the remaining fight time of almost one minute, to then leave the mat jubilantly entering the final.
Only reigning world champion and defending champion Natsumi Tsunoda (5th) stood between gold and the German champion. He then managed to stop the winning run of the TSG judoka. Two Waza-Ari after less than two minutes also brought the winner of the Grand Slams in Paris and Ulan Bator the World Cup victory. Silver remained for the Backnangerin and that was much more than a consolation. It is her biggest international success to date and an early birthday present.
Sports director and national coach praise determination and professionalism
National coach Claudiu Pusa was very satisfied: “She fought for nice technical ratings. I’m also impressed by her determination and her professional approach to achieve her goals.” After silver at the Junior World Championships in Paris in 2009, this is the second vice World Championship for Menz in her career. Pusa rejoiced: “Katharina won silver and didn’t lose gold.” The grin and smiles of the German delegation were correspondingly wide and large. Sporting director Hartmut Paulat was delighted: “It was a strong opening performance overall for our team. Katharina Menz has gained a lot of self-confidence from the international competitions over the past few months and showed that today.”
