Greek Judo Champion Teltsidou Takes Third Grand Slam Gold

Greek judo champion Elisavet Teltsidou took her third Grand Slam title in the Women’s middleweight (-70) at the Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam on Saturday. 

The Greek judoka defeated Dutch Olympic Bronze Medallist Sanne Van Dijke to take her second Grand Slam gold of the year after a great start in Tbilisi in March.

Greek Power – Elisavet TELTSIDOU!🇬🇷

📺 Watch live on https://t.co/AVIXV0hBw7 premium now!#JudoAstana #Judo #Astana #Kazakhstan #Sport #OlympicQualifiers #RoadToParis2024 #WJT #Olympics pic.twitter.com/JRcYrCaSRi

— Judo (@Judo) June 17, 2023

Teltsidou defeats first competitors in 15 secs, wins gold at extra time

According to the European Judo Union, the only athlete from Europe to take gold on the second day of the Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam 2023, was Elisavet Teltsidou.

The Greek judoka was off to a strong start defeating the home pick, Roza Nyssantaikyzy in the second round within 15 seconds, the European Judo Union describes.

She repeated this 15 seconds success in her quarter final against Serafima Moscalu of Romania.

Eventually, the Greek champion was tested in the semi finals against Yingying Fema of China, before she made it to to the final against number one seed, Sanne Van Dijke of The Netherlands: “As expected, this was no easy feat and the pair went in to golden score, holding two shidos each. After almost two minutes in extra time, Teltsidou capitalised on a weak attack from Van Dijke and countered her for the win and gold medal.”

-70 final
Sanne VAN DIJKE🇳🇱vs
Elisavet TELTSIDOU🇬🇷 pic.twitter.com/BeWBGQjjUv

— 2023judo (@1974ay1) June 17, 2023

Teltsidou wins three Grand Slams since October

This was the third Grand Slam title for the Greek representative after two previous triumphs within less than 12 months.

Teltsidou won her first Grand Slam gold last October at the 2022 Judo Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi, defeating Gabriella Willems of Belgium. She then went on to win another Grand Slam in Tbilisi, Georgia, in March.

Although she went in to the Kazakstan tournament ranked as world’s number 9, she climbed a few spots up after winning her third Grand Slam title.

Teltsidou had previously won gold at the 2019 Judo Grand Prix in Antalya and in Tashkent in the -70 kg category, as well as one of the bronze medals in the women’s 70 kg event at the 2022 Mediterranean Games held in Oran, Algeria.

In 2021, she competed in the women’s 70 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, where she got the 7th place.

This summer, Teltsidou is expected to compete in two more tournaments; the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam on on June 23, and Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam and the European Games (European Judo Championships Mixed Teams) on July 1.