A key Olympic judo match in the 100kg category in Paris ended in controversy on Friday when Georgia’s Guram Tushishvili was disqualified for kicking France’s Teddy Riner.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Riner beat Tushishvili in style to secure the victory and a place in the semi-finals, but the Georgian seemed extremely upset about losing in this way and outplayed Riner.
Things got chaotic as Riner continued to grab onto Tushishvili’s gi.
The childish fight between Tshishvili and Riner
Guram Tushishvili vs 🇷 Teddy Riner #judo #judo pic.twitter.com/6kjcfrlCa1
— (@DDDEmz) August 2, 2024
Commentators reacted with shock to the exchange.
“What is this aggression? This is not OK. This will disqualify Georgia.” Said Eurosport commentator Daily MailAnother added: “He’ll be totally out of the tournament. He’ll be totally out of the tournament.”
As expected, the referees showed the Georgian player a red card and disqualified him for his actions.
The International Judo Federation (IJF) also strongly condemned Tushishvili.
“Following the incident at the end of the quarter-final match between Teddy Riner (France) and Guram Tushishvili (Georgia) in the over 100kg category, a special disciplinary committee was immediately convened to investigate the situation, as the behaviour of the Georgian judoka was contrary to the ‘spirit of judo,'” the IJF said in a statement.
Riner won her next two matches to claim her third gold medal.
