Athletes of the Russian national judo team won one gold medal and one silver medal based on performance at the first World Championships in Doha after suspension.
According to the decision of the International Judo Federation (IJF), Russian athletes competed in a neutral status. The team has the gold of Arman Adamyan in the weight category up to 100 kilograms and the silver of Inal Tasoev in the weight of over 100 kg.
Adamyan's highest dignity medal was the first for Russian athletes after the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to international sports federations to consider the issue of admitting athletes from the Russian Federation to participate in competitions. And the IJF, by its decision, opened the way for the Russians to the Olympic tatami. In this sport, selection for the Games has been going on for several years, judokas can score a certain number of points in tournaments of various ranks. But the Russians, due to a temporary suspension before the World Cup in Doha, had only one opportunity to earn points — last year they were allowed to compete in Ulaanbaatar.
The President of the Judo Federation of Russia (FDR) Sergey Soloveichik considers the results of the performance to be quite good.
“Many guys didn’t reach the top places, but they fought with dignity. Moreover, the motivation was not what it should be, because start after start was constantly canceled. I think that the result is very good. The fact that we have a gold and a silver medal, says that our team is capable and, I hope, will participate in the Olympic Games and win medals for the country.If you evaluate the World Cup — no matter how, but these are Russian medals.The time will come, we will compete under the Russian flag and will play our anthem,» Soloveichik said.
At the 2021 World Championship, which was held in Budapest, the Russians won one gold medal, one silver and one bronze. The Russian team did not participate in the world championship — 2022 in Tashkent due to sanctions.
Along the golden path, Adamyan consistently defeated the representatives of Algeria, the refugee team, the Netherlands, Georgia and Canada on the way to the final. And in the decisive fight, he was opposed by the two-time Olympic champion Czech Lukas Krpalek. And the Russian managed to achieve victory, becoming only the second representative of the country who managed to win a gold medal in this weight category. The first in 2011 was Tagir Khaibulaev, who subsequently took Olympic gold in 2012 in London. Maybe history will repeat itself?
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Adamyan, who won the gold. The head of state noted that the athlete wrote a bright page in the victorious chronicle of the national judo school.
Tasoev overcame rivals from the Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Cuba and Uzbekistan during the tournament. And in the final, he met with the legend of the world judo Frenchman Teddy Riner, a three-time winner of the Olympics and at that time another 10-time winner of world championship gold. The rivals were worthy of each other, the outcome of the fight was decided only in the fourth minute of extra time, the winning shot was a success for the Frenchman. But a few seconds earlier, Inal counterattacked, but the judges considered that there was no score.
Silver with a golden sheenThree-time world champion and silver medalist of the 2012 Olympics in heavyweight Alexander Mikhailin does not agree with the referee's verdict. By the way, in the final meeting of the Games in London, the Russian lost just to Riner.
“Unfortunately, the rules in judo are now such that the score after Inal’s counterattack, which, in my opinion, was not fixed,” Mikhailin said. “The judges did not even begin to review the episode, although when a controversial moment arises, they are obliged to By and large, it was Inal's movement, his counterattack, and this is his victory. But it is useless to argue with the judges. Although it is clearly seen there that Riner touched the tatami with his hand (which automatically leads to defeat — ed. note). Inal «Handsome, he did everything he could. For me, his silver is with a golden sheen.»
Soloveichik, in turn, stated: «You know, the decisions of the judges are not discussed. The result is the result.»
Riner participated in the world championships for the first time since 2017. Came back and won. By the way, at the Tokyo Olympics, the Frenchman was forced to rejoice only in third place. Moreover, in the quarterfinals, unexpectedly for many, he was defeated by the Russian Tamerlan Bashaev, and together they stood on the bronze step of the podium.
Mikhailin also praised Adamyan's victory.
«I would first of all single out Arman's desire, he wanted to win and showed how much he wanted to become a world champion,» the agency's interlocutor believes. «He had a chance, and he used it for everything 100 percent. In the final, Arman did everything that was needed — he did not let the opponent go to the ground, and in the standing position he outplayed him in the grips. The gold is Arman's personal merit, he wanted to and was able to.»
Strength test At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, held in 2021, the Russian team won three bronze medals — the winners were Madina Taimazova (up to 70 kg), Niyaz Ilyasov (up to 100 kg) and Tamerlan Bashaev (over 100 kg). And at the World Championships — 2021, Iago Abuladze (up to 60 kg) won the title of winner, Bashaev stumbled only in the final, and Yakub Shamilov (up to 66 kg) brought bronze to the team.
The temporary suspension had practically no effect on the combativeness of the athletes of the national team. None of the leaders changed their citizenship, and there were no people who wanted to end their sports career. A kind of touchstone to test the readiness of the team was the Grand Slam tournament in Ulaanbaatar, where Russian athletes competed in June 2022. And they gathered a significant harvest of awards in Mongolia. The first places were taken by Taimazova, Tasoev, Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov (up to 73 kg), Mikhail Igolnikov (up to 90 kg) and Matvey Kanikovsky (up to 100 kg), the second positions were taken by Alesya Kuznetsova (up to 57 kg) and Daria Kurbonmamadova (up to 57 kg), bronze lines of the protocols for Abuladze (up to 66 kg) and Kamila Badurova (up to 63 kg).
Most of the above-mentioned sportsmen also performed in Doha. But none of them succeeded in repeating the successes of Adamyan and Tasoev. At the stage of the quarterfinals, in particular, Abuladze, Taymazova and Mansur Lorsanov (up to 90 kg) completed the fight.
Probably, the forced “downtime” also influenced, because what is it like to train every day and continue to cook in your own juice, not being able to test your accumulated technical and tactical potential in competition with the best judokas in the world. Probably, excitement also affected, because almost until the last moment the Russians did not know whether they would be allowed to participate in the tournament at all. And in this situation, it is worth expressing respect for the position of the IJF, which did not follow the lead of those who constantly mix sports and politics in their own interests.
And the Russians once again proved that they are rightfully included in the world elite, because representatives of seven other countries also won gold medals. And if we include the achievements of the Russian team in the unofficial medal standings, then it will have fourth place — after competitors from Japan, France and Georgia.
Summing up The head of the FDR is confident that Russian athletes have made a noticeable step forward at the tournament in Doha.
“The most important thing is that our guys perform and win medals. Can you imagine that they have not competed on the international stage for about 15 months. And now, after such a long break, this is a huge breakthrough. And above all for themselves. They believed in themselves and in the fact that there is an opportunity to be selected for participation in the Olympic Games. And this is very important,» Soloveichik said.
According to the results of individual competitions, the Japanese team collected the largest collection of medals — five gold, two silver and four bronze. The top three also included the teams of France (2, 3, 2) and Georgia (2, 1, 1). A mixed tournament is held on Sunday, but the Russians miss it due to a ban on team competitions.