In the coach's chair on tatami 1: Svetlana Kusnetsova, Daria Bilodid's mother.
In the coach’s chair on tatami 2: Genadiy Bilodid, Daria Bilodid's father.
Both bouts were rough and both reached golden score. While Svetlana remained attentive to what Daria was doing, Genadiy had it more complicated because he was focused on Lesiuk, but with an eye on his daughter, because a father is a father.
It was Daria's first match at the Olympics. She suffered; it was anything but easy, but she showed her talent for a fraction of a second by scoring a well-timed and authoritative waza-ari. Her mother showed joy and her father too. Genadiy couldn't help staring and bursting with glee. Three seconds later Lesiuk eliminated Lutfillaev. Genadiy celebrated it in the same way. They were five very interesting minutes but we don't wish anyone the stress of the mother and father, especially the father, because for once his mission was two fold.
