Olympics in Paris

Opening victory for Tanzer! Difficult task awaits

Katharina Tanzer(Bild: GEPA)

Judoka Katharina Tanzer was defeated by the eventual silver medalist Baasankhuu Bavuudorj from Mongolia in the 48 kg weight class at the Olympics in Paris on Saturday after a few seconds with Ippon. Prior to that, the 29-year-old had won against Wong Ka Lee from Hong Kong with ippon (hold) in the arena on the Mars meadow near the Eiffel Tower. The Lower Austrian will play another match with the mixed team on August 3rd.

She felt the nervousness in the first ten seconds of the first fight, after that it went well, Tanzer said. "It's no different to any other judo match. In the second, I had an opponent who doesn't suit me. She is physically really strong and only gets tired after a minute and a half. I simply can't keep up with her in terms of strength at the beginning." As usual, she only watched the draw in the morning. Japan's Natsumi Tsunoda took gold.

The atmosphere in the hall was tremendous; judo is one of the most popular sports in France. "That's really bad, back home you only get that with soccer or skiing. It's great that judo can also move such crowds. When I hear that, it really makes me want to fight."

Piece of cake after the weigh-in
She already enjoyed a piece of birthday cake on Friday evening after the weigh-in, and in the coming days she will be able to really hit the ground running in the Dining Hall in the Olympic Village, as a fighter from a higher weight class awaits her in the team competition. Nevertheless, it is important to proceed with caution. "I'll listen to my gut feeling, it'll be fine."