Late twist in Tbilisi as Liparteliani finds gold in -57 kg

The -57 kg category at the 2026 European Championships in Tbilisi delivered a final that stayed alive until the very last seconds. Eteri Liparteliani came in as the top seed and carried the weight of expectation on home tatami, but she handled it well and moved through the draw to reach the gold medal match.

In the final, the Georgian faced Timna Nelson-Levy of Israel. For much of the contest, it was Nelson-Levy who had the better moment. After pressing with ashi-waza and working from the clinch, she countered for the first yuko and forced Liparteliani to chase the scoreboard.

That single score remained in place deep into the bout, and the pressure inside the arena only grew. Then, with around 20 seconds remaining, Liparteliani found the opening she needed. She launched a big sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi and turned the final around at exactly the right time to claim gold in front of the home crowd.

The final changed in an instant with just seconds left.

There was also a strong European storyline in the bronze medal contests. Switzerland’s Binta Ndiaye recovered after Acelya Toprak of Great Britain scored first. Ndiaye answered through ne-waza, levelled with yuko, and then took over in golden score, finishing the contest with a reverse seoi-otoshi for Ippon.

France also left this category with a medal. Sarah-Leonie Cysique, already a four-time European medallist before this event, met Serbia’s Marica Perisic in the second bronze medal match. Perisic opened with a yuko from ko-uchi-gari, but Cysique stayed composed and countered two attacks to earn waza-ari-awasete.

For Liparteliani, it was a home triumph under heavy pressure. For Europe’s wider field, the medal wins of Ndiaye and Cysique showed just how competitive and deep this weight category remains.

Source: EJU_News