Saeid Mollaei dreamed of gold, but it was with a big smile that he received his silver medal on Tuesday July 27 at the Tokyo Games.
The Mongolian judoka of Iranian origin was beaten in the final of the -81 kg category of the Olympic Games 2020 by the Japanese Takanori Nagase, but he won a victory over his destiny.
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When he wore the colors of Iran, Saied Mollaei was world champion in 2018. In 2019, during the Tokyo Worlds, in the same room of the Budokan where the Games are currently taking place, he received the order of his Olympic committee to give up against the Belgian Matthias Casse in the semi-finals, so as not to have to face the Israeli Sagi Muki in the final.
As the Deutsche Welle website recounts, "an Iranian embassy employee then approached him in the warm-up room and told him that members of the security forces were at his parents' house at the same time."
The athlete was then scared.
"What would have happened to me and my family? So I followed orders," he later admitted.
On Instagram, the judoka still congratulated Sagi Muki, who became world champion.
A message that did not please the Iranian authorities.
"I started a new life"
Saeid Mollaei then left Iran for Germany and participated for a time in tournaments under the colors of the refugee team, before obtaining Mongolian nationality.
In early 2021, he fought in Israel, where he met Sagi Muki, who introduced him as a "brother".
"I left everything behind and started a new life. I forgot almost everything about what was there before," he said on Tuesday, after receiving his medal.
"An Olympic medal is not nothing. I am with a great team of athletes. The Mongols are very kind, very warm. And I am very happy to have won this medal for Mongolia and the Mongolian people" , he added.
His former opponent Sagi Muki, with whom he trained for two months in Israel before the Games, also reacted after the medal.
"I'm super happy for Saeid," the Israeli sportsman eliminated in the round of 16 told a press conference, as reported by I24.
"I know what he went through. He is a very close friend and I am so happy that he managed to make his dream come true. He deserves it, his journey is incredibly inspiring," he added.
According to the Deadline site, a television series is also in preparation on this beautiful story of friendship between these two athletes.
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During the Tokyo Games, the Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine withdrew because he did not want to have to face an Israeli opponent in his part of the table, explaining his decision by his support for "the Palestinian cause".
He was first scheduled to face Sudanese Mohamed Abdalrasool on Monday in the first round, before fighting Israeli Tohar Butbul in the next round.
He has since been suspended by the International Judo Federation and his accreditation has been withdrawn.
With AFP
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