Giannis Antoniou wins Cyprus’s first Glasgow gold

Giannis Antoniou has won Cyprus’s first gold medal of Glasgow 2026 after taking the men’s over-100kg judo title at the SEC Centre.

The 21-year-old beat Australia’s Kayhan Ozcicek-Takagi with a waza-ari in the final bout of the category. Commonwealth Sport said it was the last final at the SEC Centre on Sunday.

Antoniou’s victory came after a teenage move away from Cyprus to train in Georgia. The official report said he left at the age of 15 to pursue his judo career and spent his late teenage years away from his parents and friends.

Cyprus also added two bronze medals on the final day of the judo competition inside Hall 4. Zanet Michaelidou won bronze in the women’s under-78kg category and Georgios Kroussaniotakis did the same in the men’s under-100kg event.

Those results took Cyprus to an overall tally of seven medals in judo, the same total as Canada, according to Commonwealth Sport’s account of the final day.

Antoniou’s gold was the country’s first title of the Glasgow Games and came in the heaviest men’s judo division. The result put Cyprus at the centre of the final judo session, with one gold and two bronzes secured before the competition closed.