Kim’s left seoi-otoshi caused Maisuradze some problems from the outset, as did his rate of attack. The Korean wanted distance, the Georgian wanted none, a complete clash of styles! They were a shido apiece with one minute to go but with 30 seconds to go the world champion found himself under pressure as a second shido came. From there the contest went into golden score.
After 43 seconds of extra time, Kim moved in to pounce and he sprung under his opponent with a seoi-otoshi and rose up to ensure the score; it was ippon! Jonghoon Kim was 111th on the World Ranking List prior to Paris, having never won a grand slam medal before. That ranking is about to change!
The first bronze medal went to world champion Goki Tajima (JPN) in just over a minute. He threw Estonia’s Kaljulaid for ippon with a combination that began with a small uchi-mata action but finished with a huge osoto-gari.
The second bronze medal went to Alexis Mathieu directly as his teammate and opponent, Maxime-Gael Ngayap Hambou was unable to compete.
Final (-90 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-90 kg)
