Judoka Piovesana:

“I want to spend my whole life here”

Ländle judoka Lubjana "Lulu" Piovesana provided a sporting highlight in Azerbaijan, winning the Grand Slam in Baku in spectacular fashion. 

"A dream, simply unbelievable," cheered Lubjana "Lulu" Piovesana after beating the world's number 1 and 2 in the 63-kilo category at the Grand Slam in Baku (Ase), winning gold and also pocketing 4,000 euros and 1,000 world ranking points. In the Olympic ranking, she is already scratching at the top 10. In the winner's interview, the 27-year-old spoke about...

...the competition day in general:
"It was an almost perfect day. I told myself before every fight: Don't think about the result, just sell yourself well. And think about your concept.

...the final against world number one Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard in particular:
"The turning point was the waza-ari score - albeit withdrawn after studying the video. But that spurred on my fighting spirit. From then on, I said to myself: You're going to win this, you've earned gold. You can do it! And really, suddenly I had her in position to go for the uranage. That's when I went all in. The reward was gold!"

...the significance of her Grand Slam victory:
"Just huge because the draw was tough. I beat a lot of top opponents. Now I've finally arrived in the world class. That gives me an incredible amount of self-confidence. I know that I can beat anyone, even the best of the best!"

...her adopted home of Austria:
"I've lived here for three years, have Laurin Böhler as a friend, feel very much at home in Vorarlberg and want to spend my whole life here. Austria is my new home, that's for sure."

...her results after 13 months in the national team and a total of 17 tournaments:
"20th place in the IJF ranking and also fifth place at the World Championships in Doha were already incredible. I wouldn't have thought that possible a year ago. I was quite good as a Brit in the junior category. But I didn't get many opportunities in the adults. Now I can fight as much as I want and I'm getting better and better at managing my nervousness."

...her next competitions:
"From March 8, the World Tour will be making a guest appearance in Linz. That will be my next event. Until now, the plan was to compete in as many tournaments as possible. I will now take a close look at this with head coach Yvonne Snir-Bönisch. But I'll definitely be competing in Linz and at the European Championships in Zagreb. I want to make the most of my top form!"