French judoka Amandine Buchard (-52 kg), Olympic vice-champion in Tokyo, won the gold medal at the World Masters in Budapest on Friday, showing herself to be in great shape one year before the Olympic Games.
Third at the World Championships in Doha in May, Amandine Buchard dominated in the final the world No.1, Kosovare Distria Krasniqi, Olympic champion in Tokyo in the below category (-48 kg). In the semi-final, Buchard (28) had to get rid of the Briton Chelsie Giles, 3rd in the world.
Japanese Olympic champion Uta Abe, who beat him in the under 52 kg final in Tokyo, was not present in Budapest.
This is the second time after 2021 that the Frenchwoman has won this competition which brings together the 36 best in the world in each category.
Fifth in the world before this Masters, Buchard will be, barring injury, the French representative at the 2024 Olympics in this category. She leaves Budapest with big points for the Olympic ranking with the aim of arriving in Paris with the status of top seed, reserved for the eight best in the world.