French judo player Emilie Andeol has said that she was surprised to win the gold in the women's +78kg competition at the European Games.

Andeol had just two weeks to prepare for the tournament after recovering from a knee injury.

"I am very proud to be able to win this new title. Of course I won the championships last year, but in my head it has been like I never won it. I just thought that this is a new day and a new competition," Andeol told reporters.

"In the beginning of the competition it was really difficult to see what I was going to be able to do with this and it felt like everybody could've beaten me, but I stayed very strong and managed to win anyway."

Andeol also won the European Championship in 2014.