On July 16, the Técnico student João Fernando (Aerospace Engineering) won the bronze medal at the Zagreb Grand Prix (-81 kg), after defeating Moroccan Achraf Moutii.

João Fernando started practicing Judo at ACM Coimbra. In 2017, he joined Sporting Clube de Portugal after receiving several national championship titles and some medals in international championships. At the time, he was competing in the -73 kg category. He was national champion in his category (individual) in 2018 and 2020 and U23 champion in 2018 and 2019.

On 20 July 2019, he won the gold medal at the Junior European Cup, held in Prague.