A historic Czech success. Just a medal wasn’t enough for me, I wanted gold, she is an enthusiastic new champion

Renata Zachová. PHOTO: Czech judo

Renata Zachová became the first European champion in the history of Czech judo. On her way to gold in the category up to 63 kg, she defeated five opponents at the championship in Zagreb, three of them before the time limit. “I know it shouldn’t be said, but I wanted to enjoy it, I wanted to do nice judo, I probably didn’t always succeed, but it’s a gold medal, so I can’t complain,” the 23-year-old judoka with a medal around her neck smiled .

We are talking a few tens of minutes after the winning final. Do you realize what you have accomplished?
It is said that at first one is not aware of such successes. I’m totally aware of that and I’m very excited that it worked out.

Let’s go through the golden path in order. To begin with, you defeated former European junior European champion Corrao from Belgium in overtime.
The very first match was probably the most difficult, at the beginning it is always challenging and dangerous. I knew that my opponent countered well, so I didn’t want to turn into high, unprepared grabs. I was doing low grabs, so I watched it and it worked.

The experienced Austrian Krssakova didn’t surprise you even in the third fight between them. What decided the progression to the quarterfinals?
I knew she was strong and that she was well prepared for the tournament. I could feel it on the mat, she just went to wash herself completely. I thought to myself: yes, it will be difficult! Fortunately, I managed to throw it away.

The third opponent was the Italian rising star Savita Russo. The junior European champion lasted only eighteen seconds on the tatami with you, when she kept getting into low seoi otoshi…
Yes, the Italian can be annoying, but I managed to get the better of her right from the start, so it was a pretty short match.

In the semi-finals, you tied the balance of the duels at 2:2 with the Slovenian Andreja Leški. What was it like for you to deprive her of her title defense?
I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I felt really good all day. I managed to get hold of the Slovenian woman. It was close to an ippon, but she somehow rolled over and I was no longer in control. There was still about a minute and three quarters to go and it was pretty hectic all that time. But I kept it up and made it to the finals!

What mood were you in before the grand finale?
It’s like you already have a certain medal and you think it’s totally cool. But today it wasn’t like that. I told myself that the day is so good, it’s not over for me, I’ve got it and I want gold. And I have to say that I didn’t prepare in any special way for my opponents in the final or semi-final, I just wanted to make grabs and I went to throw.

The final opponent, World Championship bronze medalist Joanne Van Lieshout of the Netherlands, knocked you out a month ago at the Grand Slam in Georgia. How challenging was it to spin the score after her wazari?
We know each other well, we also fought before Europe at the training camp in Tata, we are very balanced. She threw me on a wazari from a jay (seoi-otoshi technique). And I immediately told myself that I have nothing to lose at all, that I will either lose to wazari or to ippon. Or I’ll try something, and on the contrary, I’ll throw her. And so it turned out. It’s an absolutely beautiful feeling. Today I wanted to wash, I wanted to fit. It worked out and I am very happy for all the people around me who help me and support me, I thank them for that and I am very grateful to them.

Have you already chosen where you will hang the gold medal?
The medal will have a place at home on a special wall. A few more can fit in there.