There is nothing Sabrina won’t find energy for and with 4 Olympic Games, 2 world medals, a European gold and no less than ten grand slam medals, she seems a fitting expert to discuss today’s judo. She is here in Tel Aviv, working on the field of play while also fulfilling her duties as Chair of the Athletes Commission.
“That sasai-tsuri-komi-ashi from Najafov (AZE) against Ganbold (MGL) in the -66kg semi-final, well that was my throw of the day! It was so well timed and with perfect foot placement to make it an impossible block to escape; fantastic judo! I was pleased to see him get to the final but he clearly had a major fight on his hands there, with Israel’s only finalist of the day, Shmailov.
Shmailov’s attitude as he won his semi-final was so clean. He won and he watched the crown cheering. We could see that he was not yet celebrating but was already with his mind on the final, focussed. It’s a great lesson for other athletes. The Israeli team, both men and women are strong. It’s awesome to see such young ones here fighting like their role models. It’s clear that their training group is both strong and inspiring. The whole group gets stronger together.
Aside from some individuals who stood out for me, more generally I saw so many judoka adapting to the new rules but others who really struggled. Some seemed to even hesitate and not know how to grip to be within the rules. It’s still a work in progress, they’re all still finding their way through.
It’s really nice to watch, though, the new judogi rules in action. The gripping is really aimed at throwing. If you attack you have more judogi to finish either with tachi-waza or through transition into the groundwork phase. It was often defensive in past years, with a lack of possibility to take cloth. Now there seems to be the possibility to grip and to throw and then to continue. This is a really positive but subtle change.
In Paris there seemed to be a feeling that counter attacks were not allowed, with athletes feeling blocked but already here in Israel this has moved on, just a couple of weeks later. This is fast work from the judoka and the coaches.
My own weight category, -57kg, was really stacked today, a super high level group with numerous Olympic and world medals. I really had the feeling of wanting to fight again, so strong! Eteri Liprteliani and Gneto getting to the final felt right. They were consistent throughout and both powerful.
I watched as Podolak (POL) came off after being disqualified for the head dive. Many would have been so frustrated by that but she was right there for her teammates, smiling and giving a high five to the younger ones. She dealt with it and accepted the decision and moved forward. This is a good lesson in resilience and humility and I felt that there were many examples of this today.
An additional point about Podolak; she really showed great transition today to beat Lemos of Brazil in the repecharge to reach the bronze medal match. She did the same against against Monteiro (POR), albeit without a score, earlier in the day and it highlighted just how important those skills are. I’ve always loved ne-waza and it has saved me many times. Podolak was brilliant with it today.”
There was a great deal with be positive about on day one in Tel Aviv, from spectacular throws to expertly applied transition skills and an abundance of examples of the judo values being employed. Tomorrow we can expect more of the same. Follow all the action live via the IJF website.