Alice Bellandi ascends to the Olympic throne in the -78 kg: fifth Italian gold medal at Paris 2024

Alice Bellandi enters the judo pantheon, sealing her legacy at the Paris 2024 Games.

After four podium finishes at European and World Championships, the world-ranked number one clinched a magical gold medal (the fifth for Italy in this Olympics) in the -78 kg weight category, securing glory for an Italian athlete 16 years after Giulia Quintavalle's feat (-57 kg) in Beijing 2008.

The extraordinary athlete from Brescia (photo Roberto Di Tondo/CONI) began her journey on the tamati of the Champ-de-Mars Arena, starting directly in the round of 16. Here, in a tense golden score situation with two shidos each, she delivered a crucial waza-ari against Brazil's Mayra Aguiar. In the quarter-finals, she overcame Ukraine’s Yelizaveta Lytvynenko by hansoku-make, while in the semi-finals, she triumphed over Portugal’s Patricia Sampaio with a waza-ari. In the final, with a waza-ari lead, she benefited from the third and decisive shido issued by the referee to Israel's Inbar Lanir. In disbelief and tears, the Italian athlete went to the stands to receive embraces from CONI President Giovanni Malagò and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (photo Nucci). 

For Italy, Bellandi's triumph marks the third medal in the history of the Games in this weight category, following bronzes by Emanuela Pierantozzi (Sydney 2000) and Lucia Morico (Athens 2004).