Polleres before the Judo World Championships

“Impossible not to think about it”

A European Championship is a highlight, you don't miss it. Wrong. Michaela Polleres did just that. And was rewarded with a title: the Olympic silver medallist from Wimpassing won her second consecutive Grad Slam - a kind of World Cup in judo - in Tajikistan. And with ten victories in a row on the WorldTour, she will travel to the World Championships in Abu Dhabi next week.

On her way to the final in Dushanbe, she defeated Gabriella Willems (Bel), Szabina Gercsak (Ung) - and above all Anka Pogacnik (Slo). Although the latter is "only" 17th in the world rankings, she has beaten the fourth-ranked Polleres no fewer than six times in a row. This time, the 26-year-old from Lower Austria had the better holds and throws. "This victory did Michaela a lot of good morally," says ÖJV sports director Moser.

Her self-confidence was then boosted very quickly in the final: After just 3:36 minutes, Polleres had picked up two waza-ari scores against Lara Cvjetko, the Croatian European Championship bronze medallist and runner-up at the 2022 World Championships. "It feels good to have skipped the European Championships and trained for the Olympics instead," says Michaela, beaming, "everything we've trained recently has worked. Now the World Championships can come!" And it will: on 19 May, the World Championship title will be on the line in Abu Dhabi. She has already won bronze in Budapest 2021 and Doha 2023, and Michi is now one of the top favorites.

Just like in August at the Olympics in Paris. After silver, only gold can be the goal - which of course means pressure: "It's impossible not to think about it. But I'm trying not to let it get to me too much."