The 21-year-old athlete from Celje defeated Guusje Steenhuis of the Netherlands in the finals after beating German Luise Malzahn in the semis with an ippon after two and a half minutes of added time.

Apotekar, one of the most promising Slovenian judokas, stood up to the more experienced Steenhuis, who is the world vice-champion and holder of four European championship medals.

They had met two times in the last two years ahead of today's encounter, with each scoring one win, which meant that both had the chance of winning the gold.

The Slovenian avoided fighting on the ground and waited for her opportunity in the stand-up fight as the taller competitor. Less than two minutes to go Apotekar managed to throw the Dutch on her hip and keep the advantage in points until the end.

This is the second medal for Slovenia at the competition which replaces the European Judo Championship, after Maruša Štangar won the bronze on Saturday in the women's 52 kg category.