Holder of the prestigious award
At the European Judo Cup among juniors, held in Berlin, Germany, the match of a 16-year-old athlete from Turkmenistan, who won a bronze medal, attracted significant attention. This sporting event marked the first major international victory for the young judoka Oguljan Ruslanova. Her performance was highly praised by the judges.
Oguljan, an 11th-grade student at Secondary School No. 61 in the Charjew district, competed in the weight category up to 70 kilograms. In this category, 39 athletes from 16 countries participated. Among them were judokas with extensive experience in international tournaments. Nevertheless, the young compatriot, in whom great hopes are placed, managed to defeat five of her opponents and reached the third step of the podium.
Oguljan defeated such opponents as Sweni Keding from Germany, Lara Katarina Malch from Luxembourg, Leni Welter, and Alesia Winselwins from Latvia. Had she also defeated French athlete Alexandra Geoffroy, she would have competed for the gold medal. However, that loss gave her the opportunity to fight for the bronze. Learning from her only defeat, Oguljan beat Gulsezim Turlybek from Kazakhstan and claimed the bronze medal.
The silver medal in the tournament was won by the French athlete, while the first place went to Giorgia Grassi from Italy. This victory also impacted Oguljan’s international ranking after the competition, she rose to 46th place among the strongest junior female judokas in the world in her weight class.
It is also worth noting that in the same tournament, in the weight category up to 44 kilograms, Ejegyz Geldiyeva placed in the top 7.
