Judo: Slovenia's Trstenjak wins gold, France on the board

2016 Rio Olympics - Judo - Semifinal - Women -63 kg Semifinal Contests - Carioca Arena 2 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 09/08/2016. Tina Trstenjak (SLO) of Slovenia and Mariana Silva (BRA) of Brazil compete. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

By Chris Gallagher

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Slovenia's Tina Trstenjak defeated Clarisse Agbegnenou of France in the women's -63kg category at the Rio Games on Tuesday, becoming her country's second Olympic champion in judo.

After breaking Brazilian fans' hearts by topping Mariana Silva in the semi-finals, top seed Trstenjak handily beat Agbegnenou by ippon less than two minutes into the final.

Israel's Yarden Gerbi and Anicka van Emden of the Netherlands won bronze.

Agbegnenou's silver snapped a medal drought for France, seen as a top contender in Rio but which had come up short in the first three days of judo action.

France is one of just three countries fielding a full team of 14 judokas in Rio and was hoping for a repeat of its strong performance in London four years ago, when it claimed seven medals - tied for the most with Japan.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Bill Rigby)