It has been nothing short of a fairytale journey for Tara BABULFATH of Sweden. Not only did she add the first medal to Team Sweden’s tally in Paris, but makes history for her nation, taking their first ever Olympic medal.
Babulfath comes from a sporting family. Her father Mohammad, whose arms she jumped in to following her bronze medal win today, was a successful Greco-Roman wrestler and he competed for Sweden at the 2004 Olympic Games. Her mother, Ida Hellstrom, was also a success in the wrestling world, winning several medals at World Championship events.
The Swedish -48kg athlete found success at the cadet and junior level, never missing the podium for two whole years. Since then she has been pushing herself on to the senior circuit, taking fifth place in the Tokyo Grand Slam and after a gruelling training camp in Paris earlier this year, battled her way to the final of the Baku Grand Slam where she became victorious.
Only two months ago, the 18 year old took a senior World bronze medal, only eight months after Cadet World success. An incredible trajectory for any athlete, but this has been one story many have been following.
Today, she stormed through the category, defeating top seed Assunta SCUTTO (ITA) in the quarter final, but was challenged by Japan’s TSUNODA Natsumi in the semi final, which forced her to contend with Abiba ABUZHAKYNOVA (KAZ) for the -48kg bronze medal. The pair gave it their all, but Babulfath had the edge throughout the contest, and once she found her opening in ne waza, she worked tirelessly to secure the osaekomi. She didn’t need to hold for long as her opponent submitted.
Celebrating first with her coach, Jane Bridge, she then went in search of her friends and of course her family. This was a lifetime best performance, and given that she is still so young, we can absolutely expect much more from the Swedish judoka in the future.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen