Emma-Melis Aktas lifts Tallinn with home gold on European Open day one

Emma-Melis Aktas was the emotional high point of day one at the Tallinn European Open 2026, giving the home crowd a gold medal to celebrate in the women’s +78 kg category. In a competition that marked one of the last major stops before the Olympic cycle reset, the Estonian heavyweight delivered when it mattered most.

Aktas closed the day with a commanding final performance on home soil. After taking silver in Tallinn last year, she returned with a simple goal and achieved it, saying afterward that she stepped onto the mat focused only on winning. The arena response said everything about what that result meant.

Her victory also came after a strong recent run, including fifth place at the European Championships. Aktas admitted that good results can bring extra pressure, both from outside expectations and from within, but in Tallinn she managed that tension well enough to finish on top. For an athlete still learning how to settle nerves in major moments, this was an important statement.

Tallinn got the finish it wanted, and Aktas gave it exactly that.

Aktas now turns her attention to the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam, which she identified as the first Olympic qualification event on the road toward LA28. She said the biggest lesson from Tallinn is the need to become calmer under pressure, a strikingly honest takeaway after such a successful day. That kind of self-awareness may matter just as much as the medal itself in the months ahead.

There was another notable European result on the opening day through Belgium’s Ray Marinx, who took bronze in the men’s -73 kg category. His medal run stood out even more because his bronze medal contest came against Denis Vieru, a well-known Olympic medallist. Marinx described it as a huge win and a slightly crazy experience, but he also made clear that belief was central to the result.

According to Marinx, a key adjustment came from coach Nora Gjakova during the contest. He said he had originally planned to stick to his own approach, but changed the grip strategy after her advice and felt it working. That helped him secure another European Open medal and valuable points at the start of a new Olympic phase.

Marinx was cautious but ambitious when speaking about the path toward LA28. He said the Olympic Games are every athlete’s goal and hopes this result can help him start building his ranking. It was not a grand promise, just a grounded response from an athlete trying to turn one strong day into momentum.

Across the medal table, Italy finished the first day on top with one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. The event also produced a rare spread of champions, with each of the seven gold medals going to a different nation. That meant seven different national anthems were heard in Tallinn, a fitting detail on a day defined by both variety and intensity.

For Estonia, though, the memory of the day was clear. Aktas rose in the final, the crowd rose with her, and Tallinn ended opening day on a winning note.

Source: EJU.net

Image source: EJU / European Judo Union