Anna-Maria Wagner clutched her gold medal with her right hand, tears rolling down the face of the new judo world champion during the national anthem. “I’m so happy to have won five fights. I can’t even believe it yet,” said Wagner. “I knew that if I stayed focused, I would pull this thing off today.”
The relief was palpable for the Ravensburg native. The Tote Hosen classic “An Tagen wie diesen”, which the organizers played in Abu Dhabi after the award ceremony, was a perfect fit: The 28-year-old not only secured her second world championship title after 2021 on Wednesday, but also secured her Olympic ticket in the high-class German duel with two-time European champion Alina Böhm in the weight class up to 78 kg.
Women’s national coach Claudiu Pusa was full of praise for Wagner: “She was focused, confident and showed no weakness. She was ready to win.”
Wagner, Olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo three years ago, entered the World Championships in the Persian Gulf as third in the Olympic world rankings, Böhm as fifth. Unlike the World Championships, which conclude the qualification phase, only one starter per nation is allowed at the Summer Games in Paris (26 July to 11 August).
Böhm, who would have needed gold to secure her ticket to Paris, lost her second fight on Wednesday. For Eduard Trippel and Giovanna Scoccimarro, the opening fight was the end of the road.
Wagner, on the other hand, needed just 32 seconds to win against Ange Ciella Niragira from Burundi, before she defeated Olympic champion Shori Hamada thanks to three penalties from the Japanese. Two more quick victories followed before Wagner had to go into extra time in the final – and made the decision with a running choke.
The German Judo Federation now has two medals to its name in Abu Dhabi, Mascha Ballhaus won bronze in the class up to 52 kg at the start on Sunday. The last individual competitions will take place on Thursday, and on Friday it will be all about medals in the mixed team competition, which has been an Olympic event since 2021.
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2024-05-24 07:54:26
#Judo #AnnaMaria #Wagner #world #champion
