There were great hopes from the European camp that we would experience yet another major event head to head between Tato GRIGALASHVILI of Georgia and Matthias CASSE of Belgium, but the Paris 2024 Olympic Games had other plans.
Casse was eliminated from the -81kg gold medal hopes in his quarter final, by the Tokyo Olympic Champion, NAGASE Takanori (JPN), but managed to see it through to the bronze medal contest by defeating Francois GAUTHIER DRAPEAU (CAN) in the repechage. His fortune seemed to run out after that, LEE Joonhwan (KOR) came down from the semi finals to take the bronze.
In the absence of Casse on that side of the draw, Nagase continued his road to the final and there he met Grigalashvili. The Georgian tide had finally turned.
That being said, Nagase had his number and seemingly didn’t seem bothered with the close contact contest, in fact, it worked completely to his advantage. Grigalashvili had a strong grip over the back, and Nagase simply sat back and turned for ko soto gake, not once, but twice to defend his Olympic title, the second time Japan have managed to do that this week.
There will be great disappointment in the Georgian camp, being so close to the ultimate title, however it will be sure to motivate the remaining competitors, starting tomorrow with the defending -90kg Olympic Champion, Lasha BEKAURI.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen