World Judo Championships: Beata Pacut-Kłoczko on the podium!

Beata Pacut-Kłoczko won the bronze medal of the World Judo Championships in Tashkent in the 78kg category, defeating Germany’s Alina Böhm by ippon. This is the first medal won by the White-reds in the event.

The Polish woman’s road to the podium led through the repechage. There Beata Pacut-Kłoczko fought an extremely even duel. Her rival was Italian Giorgia Stangherlin. Both athletes received two warnings each and it was clear that the rivalry cost them a lot of strength. Victory in this duel was the right to fight for the bronze medal.

Her opponent was Germany’s Böhm, who defeated her compatriot, world-ranking leader Anna Maria Wagner, in the group competition. The 24-year-old Böhm, however, has so far not enjoyed any significant success in senior judo. In 2015, she was the European under-18 champion and silver medallist at the World Championships in this age category. Three years ago, she won a bronze medal at the youth European Championships. This year, she finished second and third in the Grand Slam tournaments in Tel Aviv and Ulan Bator respectively.

Pacut-Kłoczko entered the duel concentrated and confident. In the beginning, however, she allowed herself to be surprised by the grip and pushing tactics. This forced the referees to punish her with a shido warning.

“Later on, the Pole found herself. She started to cope with the German’s tactics and started to attack. After her waza-ari throw, there was an interesting moment of the duel,” Jarosław Wołowicz, head of training of the Polish Judo Association, assessed.

So far, the biggest success of the 26-year-old Pole was the European Championship won last year in Lisbon. Pacut-Kłoczko’s account, for her 3rd place in the World Championships in the world ranking, has been enriched by 1000 points. The championships in Tashkent also count towards the Paris 2024 Olympic qualification.