On the final day of the European Judo Championships in Tbilisi, Metka Lobnik was Slovenia’s sole representative. Ranked sixth in the world, the 25-year-old entered the women’s -78 kg category as the tournament’s third seed.

She opened her campaign against Czech judoka Marie Košnarová and looked in control from the outset. Lobnik handled the grip exchanges well and consistently kept her opponent under pressure with low attacks, forcing the young Czech into two penalties for passivity in the first half of the contest. After just over three minutes, Metka successfully countered one of her opponent’s rare attacks. Although no score was awarded, she immediately transitioned into groundwork, secured a hold-down and kept her opponent pinned for 20 seconds to win by ippon.

In the quarter-final, Metka faced Germany’s Julie Hölterhoff, with whom she had shared the third-place podium at last year’s Grand Prix in Linz. The German caused some early problems in the grip exchanges and attacking rhythm, but Lobnik quickly took control and looked to capitalise in ne-waza after each of her opponent’s attacks. When Hölterhoff attacked with a body technique after just under two minutes, Metka anticipated it perfectly, slipped away and immediately established control on the ground. After freeing her leg from her opponent’s entanglement, she secured the hold-down and, just as in her opening contest, held for 20 seconds to score ippon and advance to the semi-finals.

There, she met familiar rival Emma Reid of Great Britain, whom she had also faced at last year’s European Championships. On that occasion, the Briton had won their quarter-final meeting to level their head-to-head record at 1-1. Metka started the semi-final well with a strong low attack, but Reid escaped in time. On Lobnik’s second attack, however, the Briton moved quickly into groundwork, trapped the Slovenian effectively with her legs, isolated her arm and forced a submission with an armlock.

That sent Lobnik into the bronze medal contest against experienced Russian Aleksandra Babintseva. Fighting for the first senior European medal of her career, the Slovenian entered the match with confidence and intent, threatening from the opening seconds with low attacks. She came close to scoring early, but Babintseva managed to escape. Metka then quickly adapted her approach and, in the very next exchange, threw the 33-year-old 2018 World Championships medallist onto her side for yuko.

The Russian was forced to respond, but after more than half of the contest had passed, her first serious attack came in an illegal manner. During the action, she applied an armlock to Metka’s arm, and the referees did not hesitate to disqualify her.

With that, Metka Lobnik was able to raise her arms in celebration and enjoy the first senior European Championships medal of her career. In doing so, she completed an impressive European medal collection across all age categories, now including bronze medals at cadet and under-23 level, as well as junior European gold.

"I’m really very happy. Even my participation at the European Championships was uncertain until the very last moment, so for it to end like this is really special. This result means a lot to me, especially after the injury, and to be competitive at this level even when I’m not in my best shape means a great deal," said Slovenia’s heroine in Tbilisi after the contest.

"I knew the Czech opponent, so I went into the match decisively, took control of her sleeve and then won in groundwork. The German was a very demanding and complex opponent, but I found a way to win. Against the Briton, I made a mistake and had to submit. Against the Russian, I was in front, and I certainly didn’t mind being able to finish the match early. I admit I was quite happy to see her penalised," added the Apolon Maribor judoka about her contests.

"The fact is that she was nowhere near optimally prepared. That’s why every single match was extremely difficult for me to watch. I knew she had a chance, but I also knew it would be hard because she wasn’t at her best," said sporting director Gregor Brod after the contest, before adding: "I actually think she should have been in the final. In the semi-final against the Briton, she made a mistake in groundwork, which is normally one of her biggest strengths. But when you’re not in optimal shape, you try to rely on that even more, and she did something she simply should not have done. It was just a mistake. I was afraid it might be easier to win the semi-final than the bronze medal contest. But in the end, we got the medal."

Lobnik’s bronze also marked Slovenia’s 56th medal at the European Championships and the 54th in individual competition, providing another strong confirmation of the team’s successful campaign in Tbilisi.