The echo of the final duel at the World Judo Championship forced the foreigners to reconsider their position.
Inal Tasoev and Marius Vizer / Photo: © Naoki Nishimura / AFLO / Global Look Press, RIA Novosti / Alexander Vilf
A significant event happened at the last World Judo Championship, because Russian athletes were invited to Qatar. Naturally, the matter was not limited to one participation – the team brought gold and silver from Doha.
There could have been two victories, but in the final fight in the heaviest weight category, the Russian attack was left without evaluation. A few days later, our delegation still achieved justice.
Officials had to publicly apologize to the Russian side!
Grand Finale
The decisive fight in the most prestigious weight category over 100 kg for men even before its start became legendary. All the attention of the audience was riveted to the unique Frenchman Teddy Riner, three-time Olympic champion and 11-time world champion.
Against the 34-year-old “Teddy bear” was the Russian Inal Tasoev, a much less eminent 25-year-old native of Vladikavkaz. However, this did not stop the neutral athlete from imposing a fight on the Frenchman.
Riner, who has missed all the world championships since 2017, had total support from the stands, which certainly gave him extra energy. Restraining each other’s attacks, the judokas did not earn a single point within the regular time and were forced to decide the fate of the fight in the so-called “golden score” – the first point scored automatically became “gold”.
The athletes were on the mat for another three minutes, after which Tasoev made a counterattack and immediately raised his hands up, defiantly celebrating the victory. However, rolling on the floor was not counted as a productive action, and the judge asked to continue the fight.
The discouraged Russian almost immediately missed Riner’s attack, which became the final action for both in the tournament. Teddy received the status of the only 12-time world champion in history, and Inal shook his head in dismay. A small part of the audience, supporting our athlete, whistled at the judges …
– Silver is, of course, also a place, but I don’t really like everything that is connected with the second place. The world champion sounds completely different, ”Inal said frustratedly on the air of the Dvizhenie radio station.
“Score could be awarded”
The resonant bout generated a lot of talk about international bias against Russians, but Kirill Denisov, sports director of the Russian Judo Federation, noted the next day that, under the new rules, the movement counts if the counterattack was initiated in advance.
The judges considered that Tasoev did not use the judo technique, so there was nothing to award a point for. At the same time, the question of a planned or spontaneous counterattack is still debatable. And, to the surprise of the Russian side, the International Judo Federation (IJF) nevertheless accepted Inal’s position and even issued a press release with a personal apology.
– After the competition, taking into account the current judging rules and the opinion of experts, the IJF came to the conclusion that the score for Tasoev’s counterattack could be awarded. The IJF Referee Commission deeply apologizes for this decision and informs that such actions will be judged in the future in accordance with the current judo rules, the federation stressed.
However, the gold medal remained with the rival Tasoev. If our athletes competed under the flag of Russia, then the team would take fourth place in the tournament after Japan, France and Georgia.
Given the trend in judo, we can safely hope for the participation of our athletes in the Games in Paris, where one of the main favorites in the heaviest weight category will be Teddy Riner. The Frenchman has already stated that he is going to purposefully prepare for this start. So Tasoev will have a great opportunity to take revenge next summer.
2023-05-17 19:10:41
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