Barbara Matić, a 26-year-old girl from Split and a member of the contract reserve of the Croatian Armed Forces is the first Croatian to win the Grand Slam tournament – one of the most demanding and prestigious judo competitions. She beat the best competitors in the category and won the title.

Barbara Matić is one of the most successful Croatian athletes over the past few years and she achieved success by winning the Grand Slam in judo in the category – 70 kg. The young girl from Split is a member of the contract reserve of the Croatian Armed Forces and is the first Croatian woman to have won the tournament, one of the most difficult and most prestigious judo competitions. She achieved it in an impressive way, beating the best competitors in the category – 70 kg.

Barbara made a triumphant return to the competitions after the pause caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. She beat the world champion Marie-Eve Gahié from France, the world vice-champion Barbara Timo from Portugal and Margaux Pinot from France in the finals, the European champion and bronze World Championship medallist in the finals. Winning the Grand Slam in Budapest was another great success for Barbara, who also won three bronze medals from the European Championships in Montpellier (2014), Warsaw (in 2017), and Minsk (2019). Barbara is also a two-time junior champion in the -70kg category.

In an interview for the “Hrvatski vojnik” magazine she described her past few months and the impact of the pandemic on the competitions.

“It was a long 8-month break, since the last competition. The first competition I attended was the European Cup in Dubrovnik and then Budapest. We made the most of it given the COVID 19 and the quarantine. I dedicated myself to judo completely. I had no other commitments and just trained, and everything turned out just well”.

As for the competition and travelling to the tournament, the procedure was as expected. We stayed in bubbles, and were not allowed to go anywhere. We used a special path between the hall and the hotel reserved just for the athletes. Our temperature was measured at each step, and the general prevention and protection was at very high level. Judo is a contact sport and we have to test negative twice before each competition. We also take tests at the arrival and stay in our rooms until the results are known and also at the official weigh-in day, so all in all we take four to five tests at one tournament ”, says Barbara.

Barbara also described the tournament in her category and how it feels to win a Grand Slam in judo as the first Croatie to have achieved it.  With the gold medal Barbara’s set of medals from the Grand slam tournaments is now complete.

 “The competition in my category was pretty strong. I beat a medal winner from the last World Championships, the world champion, the European champion and the second runner-up, who was European champion last year. There were no representatives from Japan, but there were all the best competitors. I am happy for the success and I continue to work hard to get good scores”, says Barbara.

After the Grand Slam Karla Prodan, a member of the Judo Club Pujanke (in Split) trained by Vladimir Preradović, won bronze medal at the European Championships. Barbara Matić got injured in the first bout, which forced her to give up the competition, despite the good performance and excellent shape.

“I got injured in the first bout, versus the last year’s world champion Marie-Eve Gahié, whom I beat at the tournament in Budapest this year. It is probably the rib. I got one blow. I took an X-ray, but the image is not clear. It is swollen and hurts to be touched. I believed that if I beat her I had a good chance to win a medal.  

 Sport and higher education do go together well

We talked with Barbara about her plans and the next Olympic Games. Although she still has not qualified for the Games, Barbara Matić and Karla Prodan are on the right track and compete at possibly Barbara’s second Olympic Games after Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

“I hope that the injury will not affect my condition much. I was in good shape to get through the qualifying tournaments and stay healthy for the Olympics. If I was to get an injury, it would better happen now during the lockdown period than ahead of the competition. I still haven’t qualified for the Games but Karla Prodan and I are in a quota with direct hat has a place in the Olympics, but the line is officially drawn on June 1 next year.

All competitions have been cancelled by the end of 2020. The Grand Prix scheduled to take place in Zagreb was cancelled by the decision of the International Judo Federation because most athletes were unable to participate. Barbara plans to take part at the Masters Tournament in January with 36 best ranking judoists, and we are also to compete at two more Grand Slam tournaments.

Barbara is not only a successful athlete. In July she graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (FESB) of the University in Split proving the thesis that top sport and university education go together well. And in Barbara’s case they are even coupled with the military service. Hat off, Barbara!

Džudašica i ugovorna pričuvnica osvojila Grand Slam