Seija Ballhaus surprisingly won gold at the European Championship in Podgorica and thus won the first medal for the German Judo Association.
The 24-year-old prevailed on the second day of the title fights in Montenegro in the finale of up to 57 kg against the Georgian Eteri Liesteliani, which was set to number one, gave the German team an unexpected triumph.
For Ballhaus it was the first medal at a large international championship, so she stepped out of the shadow of her twin sister Mascha. This had become a weight class deeper (52 kg) 2024 World Cup thirds and had won European Championship bronze in 2023.
Mascha Ballhaus was not at the start at the European Championships in Podgorica, and during the season the World Cup in Budapest (13th to 20th June) is coming up.
Bronze frustration four years ago
Seija Ballhaus became the European U23 European champion in 2021, and in the European Championships of the top fighters she lost the fight for bronze in the same year.
In 2022 and 2023, Alina Böhm had won the last German judoka EM gold. As the only German fighter to date, Sigrid Happ (1975, 1976 and 1977) became a lightweight European champion.
In 2024 in Zagreb the German team remained without a title, at that time Anna-Maria Wagner (silver) and Böhm (bronze) won the only single medals for the DJB.