Lucy Renshall exits Paris 2024 with defeat to former GB team-mate
Walsall judo star Lucy Renshall admitted she was beaten by the better player after exiting Paris 2024 with defeat to former GB team-mate Lubjana Piovesana.
Renshall arrived in France with hopes of winning a medal but saw those go up in smoke as she was knocked out by Pivesena in the last-16 of the under-63kg tournament.
The latter is from Sutton Coldfield and used to train with Renshall at the GB Judo Centre of Excellence in Walsall before switching allegiance to Austria three years ago.
And at the Champ de Mars Arena, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, she got the better of Renshall with a 1-0 win on golden score, after landing a Waza-Ari takedown.
“Judo is such a cruel sport,” reflected Renshall. “The last 12 weeks have probably been the best 12 weeks of training I’ve done before. I felt like I had more to give.
“When you know someone so well, it can be quite a rubbish fight. She was the better player on the day."
Renshall had earlier come through a tight opening round contest with Australia's Katharina Haecker, which required nearly three minutes of golden score time before the latter was disqualified after receiving three warnings.
The British player later refused to use the extended length of that contest as an excuse for her early exit.
“It wasn’t that exhausting. I felt good,” she said. “I’ve been training for a fight like that. That was the eighth time me and Katharina have fought so we know each other really well.
“I had an idea it would go like that but I felt good afterwards.
"It’s hard and frustrating and more upsetting when you give absolutely everything, and then it doesn’t go your way. I feel like it’s not fair. But that’s just sport, so I’ll have a rest and see what happens next."