Great Britain Secures Multiple Top-Seven Finishes on Day Four at the Veterans World Championships

Day four of the 2026 World Championships Veterans in Sarajevo brought several strong results for Great Britain, with multiple top-seven finishes.

Stephen Preece produced an impressive run to fifth place in the M7 -100kg category. Starting his day in the Round of 32, Preece claimed victories through to the semi-finals, where he was narrowly defeated and moved into the bronze medal contest. He was unable to secure a place on the podium on this occasion, but matched his fifth-place finish from the 2025 Veterans World Championships.

There was also a strong fifth-place finish for Nicholas Down (Peninsula JC) in the M8 -81kg category on his World Championships Veterans debut. Down won his opening contest in the Round of 32 before losing in the Round of 16 to the eventual silver medallist, sending him into the repechage. He responded superbly with two repechage victories to reach the final block, where he narrowly missed out on a medal but finished with an excellent result in Sarajevo.

Adrian Besly (Havering JC) finished seventh in the M8 -81kg category during the second World Championships Veterans appearance of his career, having made his debut in Paris last year.

Clive Biggs (Erdington JC) also recorded a seventh-place finish in the M9 -66kg category, competing at his first World Championships Veterans since 2016.

Congratulations to all of our British judoka who competed on day four in Sarajevo!

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