LONDON, July 31: Slovenia’s Urska Zolnir won her country’s first Olympic judo gold on Tuesday, triumphing in the women’s -63kg category.

The 31-year-old world number three, who won bronze in Athens in 2004, defeated China’s Xu Lili in the final, getting the all important winning score when she threw Xu over her shoulder for a waza-ari.

Slovenia had only ever won bronze in judo before and Zolnir’s gold was their fourth in any sport.

Zolnir was one of the oldest competitors in the division. She won a bronze at the Athens Games and came seventh at Beijing. Zolnir focused mainly on grappling techniques on Tuesday, pinning down her opponents throughout the day.

It was also China’s first judo medal in London after picking up three golds and a bronze in Beijing.

Meanwhile, South Korean Kim Jae-Bum gained revenge for his defeat four years ago by claiming gold in the Olympic judo men’s under-81kg category.

In so doing he reversed his loss to Germany’s Ole Bischof in the Beijing final to complete his set of gold medals following two world championships and six Asian titles.

Sixth seed Ivan Nifontov of Russia claimed a bronze medal with a dominant victory over Japan’s fifth seed Takahiro Nakai.

And 22-year-old Canadian Antoine Valois-Fortier claimed the second bronze, beating American Travis Stevens.—Agencies