Sejla Spahić won bronze at a competition in Faro, Portugal, and claimed her third medal in cadet competition on the European stage after a punishing day of six matches. The young judoka beat opponents from Italy and Spain in her first two rounds, then recovered from a quarterfinal loss to a Turkish representative to finish on the podium.

Spahić’s route to bronze was built the hard way. She defeated another competitor from Spain in repechage, then beat a fighter from Slovakia before closing with a win over a representative from Italy in the bronze medal match. The result keeps her run of strong international performances going and gives her another result to carry into the European Championships in Spain at the end of June and the World Cadet Championships in Ecuador in August.

“I had six very demanding matches, but I was focused from the beginning of the competition,” Spahić said. She added that a brief loss of concentration cost her in the quarterfinals, but that she responded by beating opponents from Spain, Slovakia and Italy to secure bronze. She said the strong level of the competition made her more determined to train even harder and that standing on the podium for her club and country carried special meaning.

Ilija Vukotić said the result mattered because cadet cups are among the busiest events in judo at this age, where a medal can require six or even eight fights in a single day. He said Spahić had to go through six tough matches and won five, with the only defeat coming against the Turkish competitor in the quarterfinals. “At the end of the day, when a medal is won and progress is seen, we have to be satisfied,” Vukotić said.

The Faro bronze was not just another place on the podium. It was another step in a season that already points toward bigger stages, with Spain and Ecuador now next on her calendar. For Spahić, the test is no longer whether she can survive deep into these events. It is how far she can go when the brackets get heavier and the margins get smaller.