Matea Jelić won the gold medal at the German Open in Hamburg, securing the only senior gold for Croatia at the tournament. The Knin-born athlete and member of Split’s Marjan competed in the senior under-73kg category, reaching the top step of the podium with four victories.
In the first round, Jelić defeated Czech Ivet Juhasz, before beating Mile Mastelić in the second round. In the semi-finals, she overcame French competitor Emna Hamadache 2-0. Hamadache arrived in Hamburg as the 19th-ranked taekwondo practitioner in the world in the under-73kg category.
In the final, Jelić defeated Briton Rebecca Sinden, who took silver. Sinden won bronze in the under-73kg category at this year’s European Championships, and holds world silver from 2023 and world bronze from 2022. Jelić and Sinden previously stood on the podium at the 2023 World Championships, when the Briton won silver and Jelić bronze. The bronze medals in Hamburg were shared by French competitor Hamadache and Dutch athlete Amy Mink.
Alongside Jelić’s gold, Croatian representatives secured several other medals. Ivan Šapina won silver in the over-87kg category, after being stopped in the final by Abolfazl Abbasipouya. Vito Krpan finished behind Greek competitor Vasileios Tholiotis in the under-87kg category, while Ozana Radić claimed bronze in the under-53kg category.
The tournament took place on 19 and 20 September in Hamburg, with organisers announcing more than 1,000 athletes from over 70 countries ahead of the competition. World Taekwondo records Olympic gold, world bronze, and seven medals from the World Taekwondo Grand Prix series in Jelić’s statistics. Matea Jelić brought Olympic gold to Croatia in Tokyo.
