Judoka Jose Maria Mendiola wins silver at the European Open in Sofia

The Judoka Jose Maria Mendiola , a scholarship from the Basque Team Foundation, has returned to the podium of an international competition with silver at the European Open in Sofia, Bulgaria. Mendiola has lost in the 81-pound final to the French Alpha Oumar Djalo, but has previously eliminated the Ukrainian Taras Nielziev, the American Dominic Rodriguez , the Bulgarian Denislav Ivanov, theTurkish Umalt Demire.

A total of 285 athletes from 39 countries have competed at the European Open in Sofia, 237 men and 148 women.

With this weekend's result, Mendiola has shown that he has already left behind the knee injury he suffered in the last Olympic cycle, which prevented him from qualifying for the Paris Games . He started approaching the podium this summer when he was fifth at the European Open in Tallinn and this weekend he took another step with the silver medal.

In Mendiola's international career, the second place at the 2020 European Open in Warsaw , the second place at the 2021 European Open in Zagreb, the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam and the third place at the 2023 Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam, among others, stand out.

The next dates of the judoka of the Basque Team will be theEuropean Open of L jubljana on 14 February and the Grand Prix Upper of Austriaon 6 March.