Lubjana Piovesana opened the medal matches against the Frenchwoman Clarisse Agbegnenou. It was a close call, and Piovesana could have brought Austria its first medal in Paris. The 27-year-old, who has chosen to live in Vorarlberg and has British roots, started aggressively against Agbegnenou, who was loudly supported in the hall, and even put the Frenchwoman in difficulty. In the end, however, the class of the Olympic champion from Tokyo prevailed. Agbegnenou, who is also a six-time world champion, won with Ippon (submission in a chokehold) – more on that at sport.ORF.at.
“I was a fan of hers when I was younger”
“I think I dominated, which surprised me a bit. Then I made a small mistake. I knew she had that throw, no idea why I made that grip,” said Piovesana. However, she is not too disappointed or sad. “It was an honor to fight against her in front of the French audience,” Piovesana said. At the beginning, it was a bit nerve-wracking – when loud “Clarisse” chants erupted, she thought the people were against her. “But the crowd congratulated me afterwards; they are great judo fans. It’s Clarisse, I was a fan of hers when I was younger.”
Gold was ultimately won by Andreja Leski from Slovenia, silver went to Prisca Awiti Alcaraz from Mexico. The bronzes were shared by Agbegnenou and Laura Fazliu (Kosovo). Because of the two bronze medals, Piovesana finished fifth instead of fourth. This fifth place is the best placement by the ÖOC at the Summer Games to date.
Piovesana’s path to the bronze fight
In the first round, Piovesana won against Esmigul Kujulowa from Kazakhstan in the weight class up to 63 kilograms. In the round of 16, she defeated her former British compatriot and nemesis Lucy Renshall after extra time and advanced to the quarterfinals. There, she then lost in overtime against the Mexican Prisca Awiti Alcaraz. In the repechage round, Piovesana managed a victory against the Korean Kim Ji Su with Ippon (submission in a chokehold).
Native Englishwoman lives in Vorarlberg
The native Englishwoman has been competing for Austria for a year and a half. She lives with her partner and national team colleague Laurin Böhler in Lochau on Lake Constance. The 27-year-old celebrated wins this year at the Grand Slam tournaments in Baku and Dushanbe in the weight class up to 63 kg and finished fifth at the European Championships in Zagreb – just like at the World Championships in 2023 in Doha.
“Fifth place is haunting me at the moment; a medal would have been nice. But I am fifth at the Olympics, I accept that. It was a good day. This motivates me more; I am heading into the next Olympic cycle up to Los Angeles. I feel well supported in Austria; without Austria, I wouldn’t be in any medal fight,” said the new Vorarlberg resident.