“Today is day 3, the final day of competition. It has been a successful competition all the way through, from beginning to end. It was a fantastic final block yesterday and it left me feeling positive about what we might expect on the third day.
Azerbaijan has the most players entered due to being the host nation. It is clear that the federation is making heavy and well pointed investment especially since the 2018 Baku World Championships. That event was a big motivation for the younger generation and now we are seeing them on the World Judo Tour. When I was an athlete there were no competitions for us here but now I am here every year and I see so many improvements. In some categories they could even put in a full quota of 4.
There is a great atmosphere here too with a lot of children in the spectator seating cheering for their heroes. Azerbaijan is tying it all together, developing across many sectors and it is fantastic. Now there is a real possibility this team will win an Olympic gold medal in Paris; the capability is there, perhaps for this Games but I am sure it will happen within the next couple of cycles.
Moving on to more technical matters, I am happy to be able to comment on the Korean heavyweight, Woohyeok Song. He graduated from Yongin University just yesterday but missed the celebration to prioritise judo. His ko-uchi-gari against Olympic medallist Tushishvili is a result of such dedication. He is the number two heavyweight in Korea but today he showed that he can really compete at the top level, beating high level judoka who already have Olympic and world medals.
I saw many good ashi-waza techniques today, including many different set-ups and many combinations of them. I love to see this kind of timing and the proper use of distance. It is safe, clean judo and employs all the principles that coaches should be teaching.
Some athletes are still trying to entwine their legs resulting in kawasu-gake situations and this is an immediate hansoku-make. Yesterday there were two but today none, which is better. It is a risky choice to entangle the legs in that way regardless of the eventual finish. Athletes must practise their techniques without this position and make them purer, cleaner and less dangerous.