With a broken eye and after a chokehold: how a judoka Taymazova heroically won the bronze of the Tokyo Olympics

Defeating the favorite without reward

If we already sum up the interim results of the Tokyo Olympics, then judo brought the most disappointment to the Russian fans. In 2012 and 2016, representatives of this sport managed to win eight medals, five of which were gold. But in the homeland of judo, the Russians won only five fights in four days, and lost even before a place on the podium was at stake.

On the fifth day, Mikhail Ugolnikov tried to correct the situation.

In his weight up to 90 kg, he was seeded at the tenth number.

This meant that he should have been able to reach the quarterfinals, from where, in case of defeat, he could break through at least to the consolation tournament for bronze.

Further, the tournament grid would bring the Russian against the undisputed favorite and world champion of 2018 and 2021 Nikoloz Sherazadishvili, representing Spain.

However, specifically his Russian judoka could not be afraid, because he won six out of eight head-to-head fights.

Igolnikov completed the minimum task of reaching the quarterfinals without major losses.

In the first round, he defeated 35-year-old Benin's Seltus Dossu Yovo.

It took the two-time European champion a little more than two minutes to carry out two receptions on waza-ari, which resulted in an ippon victory.

In the next fight, Igolnikov met with Azerbaijani Mamedali Mehdiyev. The Russian judoka, who won the Youth Olympics in 2014, ended all previous fights with this opponent in his favor and did not change this tradition in Tokyo. Igolnikov won his sixth victory in a row on waza-ari, forcing his opponent to lose his balance.

Sherazadishvili also reached the quarterfinals, but with previous fights he had not convinced him of his invincibility. In the 1/8 finals, the Spaniard only overcame the Swede Markus Nyman in extra time, spending extra energy before the meeting with Igolnikov. As a result, Sherazadishvili really did not demonstrate the power that could be expected from him, and the Russian was obliged to use this. At the end of normal time, he rushed into the attack and was able to carry out a choke hold. The Spanish judoka lay on the tatami for a few seconds after that, while Igolnikov rejoiced at reaching the semifinals.

Then he had to fight with an athlete from Georgia. Igolnikov also had a positive history of meetings with Lasha Bekauri and began another battle from a position of strength. The Russian often attacked and was clearly stronger, but he was immediately punished for his only mistake. Bekauri threw his opponent on his shoulders, and he was appointed waza-ari for this. Igolnikov had a little more than a minute to at least continue the fight in overtime, but he did not always succeed even in catching an opponent.

In the fight for the bronze, the Russian got the nominally stronger rival Christian Toth from Hungary, who won the bronze of the World Championship before the Olympics.

But in a face-to-face meeting, there was not much difference between them.

The Russian actively fought and threw a competitor several times, but each time the judges did not evaluate his efforts and even canceled the waza-ari after the video replay.

In extra time, Igolnikov was also in a hurry to carry out an attack, but he quickly spent all his strength.

He took advantage of this and rolled the Russian on the back - Igolnikov's dream of bronze after defeating the main favorite broke.

Taimazova's exploits for the sake of bronze

In women in weight up to 70 kg, Russia was represented by Madina Taymazova, two-time bronze medalist of the European Championships. She was frankly unlucky with the draw - already in the first fight she had to meet the Spaniard Maria Bernabeu, who twice climbed the podium of world championships. However, a native of North Ossetia did not give up in front of a 33-year-old opponent. At the last minute of regular time, Taymazova managed to perform a technique, assessed in waza-ari.

Then the even more formidable Brazilian Maria Portela was waiting for her. In her previous fight, she already defeated a judoka, who can also be called conditionally Russian. Afghan Nigara Shahin fled to Pakistan with her family as a child, fleeing the war, and then moved to Yekaterinburg, where she graduated from the Ural Federal University. In Tokyo, she joined the refugee team, but her participation in the Olympics was short-lived. The Brazilian won against her with ippon already at the 28th second.

But the fight with Taymazova was not so fast. In the main time, the judokas did not take any active actions, and then an additional round was assigned to the first scored point. The girls fought for another 11 minutes and only twice exchanged "shido" - warnings for passivity. A third such punishment would automatically lead to disqualification, and it was received by the Brazilian, who could not hold back the tears after the defeat.

In the quarterfinals, Taymazova went to the author of one of the main sensations of the day - Elisavet Teltsidu. The Greek woman knocked out the second-seeded Frenchwoman Margot Pino, who also scored three shido. Taymazova stepped onto the tatami with a bandage on her eyebrows, hiding the hematoma earned in the last fight, and for some time restrained her opponent's attacks, but quickly caught her on a mistake and threw her over her back. She won with ippon and became the first Russian judoka in 17 years to reach the semifinals of the Olympics. The last to achieve this was Tea Donguzashvili, who competed in over 78 kg in 2004.

For reaching the final, Taymazova had to compete with the Japanese Tizuru Arai, who was the clear favorite of the meeting. Not only did she win the world championships in 2017 and 2018, she also performed at home - in four days the Japanese have never been left without a medal. However, the Russian woman defeated Arai at the Kazan Grand Slam tournament in May, so there was still a chance of success.

The fight turned out to be extremely tense. As soon as Taymazova attacked, Arai immediately turned her actions in her favor, but the Japanese woman never brought the matter to an end. The Russian woman defended herself well and dodged any position. In extra time, she escaped even after two consecutive deductions, and once the judge already announced ippon, but the replay showed that Arai earned it with an illegal trick. Taymazova did not have enough strength, she already had two "shido", and her right eye became completely blue, but she continued to fight. Only in the 17th minute, the Japanese judoka was able to carry out a choke hold. The Russian woman failed to win the second in a row a super-long duel.

Taymazova had a little over an hour to recover for a fight with another world champion, now acting. Croatian Barbara Matic knew perfectly well what the Russian woman had to go through, and tried to offer the highest possible pace, but this did not frighten Taymazova. Once again, she heroically nullified all the efforts of her rival. And at the end of regular time, Taymazova managed to more often grab Matic by her kimono and look for ways to develop attacks. Finally, the Russian judoka was able to twist her opponent and throw off the mat. Admission to waza-ari brought the Russian woman an incredibly hard-won bronze and the first medal in the history of the country in weight up to 70 kg.