Barbara Matić wins Croatia’s first gold medal at the Paris Olympics

The judo gold is the second medal for Croatia at the Paris Olympics after Miran Maričić won the bronze in the 10m Air Rifle final.

The Croatian judoka Barbara Matić won the gold medal in the up to 70kg weight class at the Olympic Games in Paris on Wednesday after beating Germany’s Miriam Butkereit in the final.

Matić entered the match brilliantly against the 30-year-old German and in less than a minute she took the lead with a waza-ari. She went on to maintain controlled throughout the rest of the fight and deservedly achieved the biggest win of her career.

With the gold the 29-year-old from Split, who is the reigning European Champion and former two-time World Champion (2021, 2022), as well as a former two-time junior World Champion (2013, 2014), secured the first Olympic medal for Croatian judo.

This is Matić’s 3rd Olympic Games. In Rio de Janeiro 2016, she was stopped in the first round, and in Tokyo 2021, she finished 5th overall.

Source: HRT