Middleweight (≤70 kilograms), Women

Lucie Décosse (FRA) was silver medalist in this class at Beijing and was a three-time World Champion, including wins in 2010 and 2011, and came to London as the hot favorite. She dominated the class all day long, winning her first two matches by ippon, and then moving into the final with a win by penalties over Korean Hwang Ye-Seul. There she met German Kerstin Thiele, who was a surprise finalist. The final was another comfortable victory for Décosse who added the only trophy she was lacking. Décosse score a waza-ari early in the match and added two yukos near the end to win easily. Thiele had advanced by defeating second seeded Edith Bosch (NED) in the quarter-finals, and then survived a tough semi-final against China’s Chen Fei. Bosch came back to win a bronze medal, joined by Colombian Yuri Alvear, who defeated Chen for the bronze. For Bosch, it was her third Olympic medal, with a silver from 2004 and a bronze in 2008.

Bosch achieved further fame during London 2012 just before the start of the men’s 100 metre final in athletics. She was seated next to a drunken fan who threw a beer bottle onto the track just as the athletes were lining up. Bosch subdued the idiot until the police arrived to take him away.