Darya Skrypnik (under 52kg) claims bronze at Judo World Championship, held in Astana

On the way towards her medal, unassuming Darya defeated Mexican Jennifer Cruz and French Annabelle Euranie, but lost to Brazilian Érika Miranda. In the consolation tournament, she faced Russian Natalia Kuzyutina: a world and European multi-prizewinner. Dasha easily overwhelmed Kuzyutina and, in the match for third place, smashed Gulbadam Babamuratova from Turkmenistan, in the best performance of her career.

Dasha, 28, is an experienced athlete and has been a member of the Belarusian national team for more than a year. This was the last championship before the 2016 Olympiad and the Astana event gathered the world’s strongest judo wrestlers, making her win all the more worthy. Our hopes are now with Dasha for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.