Olympics-Judo-Winning Italian judoka gets surprise prime ministerial visit at Paris 2024

PARIS (Reuters) - It's not every day that the prime minister of your country comes to watch the judo, but on Thursday Italy's Giorgia Meloni arrived just seconds before Alice Bellandi took to the tatami in her gold medal bout.

"I didn't know. I knew just after I won that it was the prime minister," Bellandi told reporters.

"It was so nice because this sport doesn't have a lot of relevance," Bellandi said after beating Israeli Inbar Lanir in the under 78 kg category.

Meloni had been seen scurrying into the arena overlooking the Eiffel Tower with her advisers and bodyguards, while glued to her mobile phone wearing an "Italia" t-shirt.

Once the fight began, she appeared to be getting explanations on what was happening as the seconds went by, but then when Bellandi was given the win, she leapt to her feet and applauded wildly.

"It's so good that someone gives the same importance to every sport," Bellandi said after Meloni had come to congratulate her.

"She said that I had a beautiful smile and my eyes were on fire," Bellandi said.

(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Alison Williams)