TOKIO/LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE – Charline Van Snick (-52kg/8 WRL) has failed to return on the Olympic podium. The bronze medalist from London, then in the -48kg weight class, won her first two rounds consecutively against Canada's Ecatarina Guica (28 WRL) and Israel's Gili Cohen (12 WRL).
In the quarterfinals, however, our compatriot was defeated by the Italian Odette Giuffrida (4 WRL).
Charline got another chance to equal the bronze medal from London through the rematches, but she lost by ippon to the British Chelsie Giles (7 WRL). The Belgian judoka had to leave the tatami in a wheelchair after a blow to the head. She finishes in seventh place.
The thirty-year-old London bronze medalist represented Belgium for the third time at the Olympic Games. She also hoped for a second Olympic medal. “I believed in it, I dreamed of it, victory was so close and yet so far away. I will need time to accept all these emotions, to process them. I often say that when you learn to walk, you risk falling. I'm going to need time to accept all these emotions, to digest them," the Liège native commented on her social media channel.
