MEDITERRANEAN GAMES

Arnela Odzakovic will go down in the history of Bosnian-Herzegovinian sport after winning the gold medal in the category – 65 kg on the first day of the Games.

The young competitor, member of Karate Team Bushido from Sarajevo, convincingly beat all her opponents on her way to the finals – she defeated Greece’s Aleksia Karipioda in the first round, then Morocco’s Latifa Seoka, followed by France’s Neli Mosuet. She said the triumph against the latter was more than just a victory; it was payback for defeat in the semi-finals of the 2003 World Junior Championships in Marseilles.

In the final match, she beat a local competitor, multiple world and European champion Gloria Rodriguez Casanova, with the result 4:2, with an attractive throwing and scoring points when the result was 1:0, thus turning the result in her favor and confirming her superiority in the match.

Winner of numerous medals, double European junior champion, third place winner in team fights in the European Championships in Tenerife in 2005, Arnela said about the final match: “It was an honor to fight Casanova in the finals. I was not in awe, but I wasn’t thinking of defeat either. I thought that as I’ve reached the finals, I must go to the end. Because of hard work and all the sacrifices I made during months of preparation, this is my dearest medal ever.”

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