“It’s always surprising to see big names lose in the early rounds. No matter how much of our lives we spend in judo, this feeling is always the same. We expect them to win but of course nobody can win all the time. Today Fabio Basile lost, back in his Olympic-gold-medal-winning weight of -66kg. He won his first fight but was out-manoeuvred in the second round. Five-time Olympian Monteiro (POR) lost early too, at -57kg, and she herself seemed shocked to go out at that stage. She is clearly wanting to fight at an incredible 6th Games and even without big points from today, she is likely to achieve that; she is 15th in the world right now.
At -52kg Odette Giuffrida has such experience and always aims to grind out the wins, even when it isn’t easy, playing expertly with the rules. She won her first fight in a single minute, her second being a bit more complicated but she was never on the back foot. In her final she took on the Japanese competitor who at 24 still hasn’t made her name on the senior circuit despite being both cadet and junior world champion in years gone by.
I note here that both Italian number one seeds reached their respective finals, Scutto and Giuffrida, which is another validation of the ever more impressive current Italian system. Both won gold too, both with well timed throws, a really good sign.
From 5 day 1 categories, 4 had the number one seed in the final, with Revol (FRA) at -60kg and Nora Gjakova (KOS) at -57kg, joining the two Italian women. Nora looks like she is coming back to her best level, step by step, after a challenging 2022. Maybe this is a well-timed up-turn for her as the final year of qualification for Paris approaches. The final in Gjakova’s category, in fact my category too, was a repeat of the Tokyo Olympic Games final of 2021.
It is really positive for the host nation to have two representatives in their respective finals. Kyrgyzbayev at -66kg and Shamshadin at -60kg are giving the home crowd a fantastic first day and as we saw in Dushanbe, having such a positive start can really impact the home athletes’ performances throughout. One of the women also reached the final block for Kazakhstan, competing for bronze at -48kg, so overall it’s a very good day for the organisers. She was the number 7 seed, not at the top of the pile but pushing herself for the spectators and her teammates. The bronze medal didn’t come but now she knows she can reach the final block, maybe we will see her again in the future.
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