Daria Bilodid debutes at U57kg at European Championships

Daria Bilodid has confirmed she will fight at the European Championships in Sofia in her new category U57kg. For a long time rumours were going that she would skip the category U52kg and start in U57kg but never confirmed until today. Given the situation in her country where she had to fled to Spain, her judo future was not the highest priority. In Valencia though she could train and set her mind to judo despite all the devastating circumstances.

The double World Champion is the Olympic bronze medallist U48kg in Tokyo last year. The 21-year old Ukraine star told JudoInside she will make her comeback. Since her Olympic Games bronze medal Bilodid didn't fight in the IJF World Tour.

Previously we saw Olympic Champion Distria Krasniqi stepping up to U52kg and the resistance was heavy, although she was used to U52kg before she had to go back successfully U48kg. Bilodid touched the U52kg category class at the Grand Slam in Budapest in October 2020, but it was not a success. She definitely has the height for the category U57kg.

When she was fighting at U48kg, she towered above everyone else. No player was anywhere close to her in height. At 1.72m, Bilodid is still considered tall for the U57kg category but she will no longer have such an obvious height advantage. Her main rival at U48kg was Funa Tonaki who stands at 1.48m. Contrast that to the U57kg Olympic Champion Nora Gjakova (KOS), who stands at 1.65m. Still shorter than Bilodid, yes, but not by much.

Likely new rivals in the category U57kg will be Gjakova as mentioned, World Champion Jessica Klimkait (CAN) and former World Champion Christa Deguchi, also from Canada. However first it’s working on a position at all and get used to the new opposition. Although Bilodid had not too much problem with the Japanese opponents U48kg, she will likely also face 2018 World Champion Tsukasa Yoshida, so it will be a World Champions class. Also 2014 Junior World Champion Momo Tamaoki is an ambitious athlete in this category. Even the current European Champion Telma Monteiro (now 36), is still active and wants to qualify for a unique sixth Olympic Games. French runner-up of the Olympic Games Sarah Cysique is now the world’s number three ranked judoka U57kg. She will definitely be taller than all of these high ranked athletes.

Ukraine’s pride Bilodid is the youngest ever World Champion in judo. She became World Champion in the cadet category in 2015, Juniors in 2018 and her first senior world title even earlier than her junior title. At European Championships she won two cadet titles, a junior european title and the senior title in 2017. In 2021 she finished second U48kg.

At the European Championships Sarah Cysique will the number one ranked, followed by Telma Monteiro, Timna Nelson Levy, Eteri Liparteliani and Priscilla Gneto.

In Sofia 15 Ukrainian top athletes of are estimated to start:

Daria Bilodid  U57

Anastasiya Antipina  U63

Nataliia Chystiakova  U70

Yuliia Kurchenko  U70

Anastasiya Turchyn  U78

Yelyzaveta Lytvynenko  U78

Artem Lesiuk  U60

Dilshot Khalmatov  U60

Bogdan Iadov  U66

Yevhen Honcharko  U66

Oleksandr Koshliak  U73

Hievorh Manukian  U81

Sergii Krivchach  U81

Artem Bubyr  U90

Iakiv Khammo  O100

Skipping two weights

North Korean super star Kye Sun-Hui won the Olympic title in 1996 in Atlanta. She won the World title U52kg in 2001 after already taking two other colours of medals at the worlds and she took bronze U52kg at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. You wouldn't be surprised if she won the world title U57kg in 2003 and world titles in 2005 and 2007. Oh yeah.... she took Olympic silver in Athens in 2004. She won all colours of Olympic Games in three different weight categories.