Frenchman Walide Khyar won the bronze medal in the under 66 kg category on Friday at the European Judo Championships in Montpellier.
During his fight for third place, Khyar defeated Russian Murad Chopanov by waza-ari.
He lost in the quarter-final against the Azerbaijani Yashar Najafov before recovering in the repechage barely a quarter of an hour later, against the Finn Luukas Saha.
After his bronze medal at the World Championships in Doha last May, the 28-year-old judoka is taking a big step towards qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games in less than nine months.