England’s Acelya Toprak overcame India’s Yamini Mourya in the women’s -57kg judo final to win the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
In an exhausting bout that went to golden score and lasted almost seven minutes, Toprak eventually forced Mourya into a third shido to claim victory.
The 28-year-old had won silver in 2022 but managed to go one better this time around in Glasgow.
“My last Commonwealth Games went exactly the same way. In the final it was two shidos each, we were into four-and-a-half minutes of extra time and I made that one misstep, over-stretched and got caught,” Toprak told BBC Sport.
“So I’m very happy that this time I didn’t do that, because that’s shattering, that hurts.
“All you’re thinking about is get up and go again, get up and go again, and then after I was like ‘I like a golden score in the finals, don’t I?’
“You’re exhausted, someone’s trying to throw you on your head for eight minutes and you’ve just got to get up and go again.”
It was an excellent night for England’s judo athletes with all five who were in medal contention winning their matches.
Lele Nairne, who was beaten by Toprak in the women’s -57kg semi-final, won bronze by ippon with an emphatic throw to the mat to defeat Ghanaian 17-year-old Frema Agyei within just 28 seconds.
“I love throwing people like that,” Nairne, 28, said after her victory.
“I love it. It’s a bittersweet symphony. Birmingham [2022] was tragic, I lost to a good friend in the bronze medal match, so I wanted to redeem myself.
“I wanted a medal, I wanted a gold, but just to get a medal, I’m absolutely over the moon.”
Tatum Keen – Nairne’s training partner at Bradley Stoke Judo Club in Bristol – also won bronze in the women’s -52kg category.
And in the men’s judo, 20-year-old Charlie Ayre and Michael Fryer, 26, claimed bronze in their respective -60kg and -66kg events.
