2019 European Games: First gold medal for Croatia
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
Barbara Matić (Photo: HOO/2019 European Games)
MINSK, 24 June 2019 – Croatia has won its first medals at the 2019 European Games being held in Minsk, Belarus.
Both of Croatia’s medals came in martial art and combat sports. Lucija Babić won the gold medal in the Sambo, winning the U-64 kg category, whilst Barbara Matić won bronze in the judo event (U-70 kg).
Babić, who will also competes in judo, won Croatia’s first gold medal. In the first round she beat her Belarus opponent 3-0, before beating Moldova’s Natalia Budeanu 3-2. In the final she beat Kateryna Moskalova from the Ukraine 4-0 to win gold, fightsite.hr reported.
Earlier, Matić won Croatia’s first medal at the games when she came third in the judo event. She was impressive, winning four of her five matches convincingly .
Over 4,000 athletes from 50 countries are taking part in this year’s games. Ten of the sports offer qualification opportunities for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Opening ceremony (Photo: HOO)
The closing ceremony will take place on 30 June.
