Lukáš Krpálek wins bronze at World Judo Championships

Lukáš Krpálek has secured a bronze medal in the over 100kg category at the World Judo Championships in Baku. This marks his sixth world championship medal and follows the success of teammate Renata Zachová.

In the bronze medal match, the 35-year-old Czech judoka defeated Finland's Martti Puumalainen using two wazari scores. Krpálek's path to the podium included victories over John Messe A Bessong of Canada and Magomed Magomedomarov of the United Arab Emirates. He suffered his only defeat of the tournament in the quarterfinals against world number one Inal Tasoev.

Before facing Puumalainen, Krpálek defeated Jura Spijkerse of the Netherlands with an ipon score in the final seconds of regulation time. This achievement marks the first time since 1981 that the Czech Republic has won two medals at a single World Judo Championship.