Portuguese judoka Patrícia Sampaio won her first bout in the -78 kg at the Paris2024 Olympic Games today and qualified for the last 16 of the competition taking place at the Champ-de-Mars Arena.
Sampaio (13th in the world), 25, who is competing in her second Olympic Games, after her debut in Tokyo2020, beat Kenyan Zeddy Cherotich, 22nd in the field and 74th in the world, in the first 20 seconds with a waza-ari, followed by an immobilization (ippon).
In the round of 16, the judoka from Tomar will fight Frenchwoman Madeleine Malonga, the fifth favorite, who is the reigning Olympic runner-up and a three-time medalist at the World Championships, one of which as champion in 2019.
