World champion Anna-Maria Wagner put her hands over her face in relief and shed tears of joy in the arms of national coach Claudiu Pusa.

The 25-year-old won one of the small finals in the weight class up to 78 kilograms at the Olympic Games and thus the second medal for the German Judo Association (DJB) in Tokyo.

The Ravensburger defeated the Cuban Kaliema Antomarchi on Thursday through Waza-ari.

She had previously lost the semifinals to former Japanese world champion Shori Hamada.

After her recent successes, Wagner traveled to Japan for the games with great ambition.

In addition to the World Cup title in Budapest in mid-June, she has also won the Grand Slams in Tel Aviv and Kazan this year.

Technically, she has long been strong, said the sports director of the German Judo Association (DJB), Hartmut Paulat, the German press agency.

"In the last year in particular, she has also improved extremely physically."

In the venerable judo temple Nippon Budokan, the 25-year-old was therefore one of the closest favorites.

“On the one hand, she finally broke the knot at the World Cup, so that she is now more convinced of herself,” said sports director Paulat.

"On the other hand, that made her suddenly the hunted." A new role for the student that she had to get used to.

Only Bönisch with gold so far

Against the Portuguese Patricia Sampaio she prevailed sovereignly at the beginning, in the hard-fought quarter-finals against the multiple World Cup and Olympic medalist Mayra Aguiar from Brazil in the Golden Score. In the semi-final against Yamada, the gold dream was over. In the bronze fight, however, Wagner showed his morale and added the next medal to their track record in 2021.

The only woman who was able to win Olympic Judo gold for Germany remains for the time being Yvonne Bönisch, who triumphed in Athens in 2004. The DJB celebrated the last title at the Games by Ole Bischof in Beijing in 2008. On Wednesday Eduard Trippel won silver in the weight class up to 90 kilograms and thus the first medal for the German judokas at the event in Tokyo. Karl-Richard Frey (Leverkusen) lost in the class up to 100 kilograms on Thursday in the quarter-finals and then in the hope round.