Tushishvili survives late pressure to seal heavyweight gold in Tbilisi

The final day of the 2026 European Championships ended with a home celebration in Tbilisi. In the +100 kg category, Guram Tushishvili delivered the result the Georgian crowd had been dreaming of, taking gold in front of a packed and deeply invested arena.

The opponent made the moment even bigger. Lukas Krpalek of Czechia, one of the few judoka ever to win Olympic gold in two different weight categories, grew stronger as the day went on. After a demanding opening match against Germany’s Losseni Kone, he settled into his rhythm and looked more dangerous with every round.

The final had the feel of a major showdown from the first grip exchange. Both heavyweights were careful, tense and fully aware that one mistake could decide everything. They repeatedly cancelled each other out until Tushishvili created the key opening, forcing Krpalek’s arm over the shoulder and down before launching a huge tsuri-goshi that earned Waza-ari.

Tbilisi got the dramatic finish it wanted.

From that point, Krpalek kept pressing. The Czech star looked for chances to bring tomoe-nage into play, but he could not generate enough force to turn the contest around. Tushishvili then had to manage a nervy closing stretch as penalties began to build, yet he stayed composed and protected his lead until the final gong.

It was another major chapter in Tushishvili’s record, bringing him a ninth continental medal if his 2015 junior title is included. Krpalek’s run still underlined the level of Europe’s heavyweight field, and the podium stayed firmly European around them.

In the bronze medal contests, Valerii Endovitskii of Russia defeated Romania’s Darius Dobre as Dobre collected a third Shido late in the match. The other bronze went to Ibrahim Tataroglu, who countered Poland’s Grzegorz Teresinski for Waza-ari and then finished the sequence in osaekomi for Ippon. Georgia also closed the championships on top of the medal table with four gold medals, ahead of France, Russia, Italy and Israel.

Source: EJU_News