Heavyweight (>78 kilograms), Women

The last two World Championships had been won by the last two Olympic champions, both Chinese judoka. Sun Fuming was Olympic gold medalist in 1996 and World Champion in 2003, while Yuan Hua was Olympic gold medalist in 2000 and World Champion in 2001. Only one could represent China in the class, and Sun was chosen. She went to the A Pool final, where she faced Cuba’s Daima Beltrán, the silver medalist in 2000, with Beltrán winning by ippon in 1:39. The other pool was won by Japan’s Maki Tsukada, who had been runner-up at the 2003 Worlds. Beltrán got off fast in the final, throwing Tsukuda for waza-ari, but at 1:50, Tsukuda pinned Beltrán for ippon to win the gold medal, leaving Beltrán with her second consecutive silver. Tsukuda would return in 2008 to win a silver medal in the class in Beijing, after winning the 2007 World Championship in the open class.