London 2012: Bryant bags bronze

Friday, August 3, 2012
4:10 PM

Olympic judo: Karina Bryant has won Team GB’s second judo medal in 24 hours

Judo heavyweight Karina Bryant claimed an elusive Olympic medal in her fourth Games as she beat Iryna Kindzerska of Ukraine at in the women’s +78kg category the ExCeL Arena.

It was the British martial arts team’s second piece of metalwork in London after Gemma Gibbon ended a 12-year wait by claiming silver yesterday.

Thirty-year-old Bryant - a four-time European Champion and five-time world silver medallist - battled through to the semi-finals, having put out third-seeded Slovenian Lucija Polavder, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist, along the way.

However, Japan’s Mika Sugimoto, the fourth seeded 2010 world champion, proved a test too far and she had to lift herself for the bronze contest.

The home supporters got behind the Camberley fighter, competing in her fourth and probably final Games, but she was soon behind to a Waz-ari throw and hold.

Bryant dug deep and levelled with a Waz-ari score of her own midway through the five-minute bout.

A Yuko from the big Ukrainian then edged her 11-10 ahead, but the Briton was not to be denied as she dropped Kindzerska over for another Waz-ari to claim victory - sending the North Arena 2 into bedlam once again.