Sandra Jaime Sanchez has declared that winning gold at the European Games was the "perfect way" to round off her season.
The Spanish competitor beat France's Sandy Scordo in the Baku final earlier today to prevail in the women's kata event at the first ever European Games.
Sanchez, a winner at the National Championships last year, admits that she was feeling the nerves throughout her bout, but was delighted to have come out on top 5-0.
"First of all, I'm so, so, so happy and I'm still feeling nervous actually," the 33-year-old told reporters. "My hands are still shaking because of the tension on the mat during the match and because of all the feelings you go through. Now I can finally relax and just scream, 'Yeeeees!'.
"I was very confident before the match, I had trained well and I had already won against Sandy Scordo earlier, so before the match I was already leading on confident points. But a final is always a final, you can never be sure about anything in a final. So I gave all I had, and when I saw the 5-0 on the scoreboard it was just like, 'Wooow, impressive'.
"This is the perfect way to finish the season with a gold medal at the first ever European Games. Everybody has put so much effort in achieving a medal at this competition. I can't ask for more. A gold medal at this competition is all I had dreamed of. I'm living a dream right now with this medal around my neck."
Victory for Sanchez came moments after compatriot Damian Hugo Quintero claimed a gold of his own in the men's kata.
Daniel Lewis
