Bronze medalist at the Tokyo Games, French judoka Luka Mkheidze this time took Olympic silver by losing to Kazakh Yeldos Smetov in the -60kg final this Saturday, July 27. A great reward that struggles to hide the disappointment of an athlete who was aiming for gold.
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A president shouldn’t miss this… Emmanuel Macron combined business with pleasure this Saturday by covering the three kilometers that separate the Élysée Palace from the Arena Champs de Mars: taking advantage of the under 60 kg judo final to enjoy a little crowd bath and be the privileged witness of the first French gold medal of the Paris Games.
Unfortunately, the hope of gold turned into silver for Luka Mkheidze, beaten in the final by Kazakh Yeldos Smetov. But let the French judoka rest assured, the star of the day was indeed him, even if there were also Zinedine Zidane and David Douillet (double Olympic judo champion) in the stands.
Carried all day by the hundreds of French voices that made noise in the Arena, the French judoka was at the center of a day that also saw his compatriot Shiri Boukhli wins bronze medal in the under 48 kg category.
Although he did better than at the Tokyo Olympics where he won the bronze medal, Luka Mkheidze did not hide a little disappointment and a little “regret” at not having been able to win the first French gold medal in front of his home crowd. Coming out of the fight, I had this regrethe admits more than an hour after his fight. I still missed out on a nice gold medal. Afterwards, when I saw the public, when I saw my loved ones, I saw that they were still proud of me. So, I forgot a little, this disappointment. »
More proud than disappointed…
Born in Georgia, arrived in France at the age of 12, naturalized in 2015, and brought up on French judo, Luka Mkheidze wanted pride to prevail over regrets and disappointments. I think back a few years: I started judo here, I started going to school. I don’t forget all that, it remains engraved in me. The people who helped me too, they are in my heart. Those who could be there, were there, I hope that later, I will have a little more time to take them in my arms, squeeze them tight and simply thank them. Hearing the Marseillaise sung, the blue-white-red flags waving, it was magnificent, it gave me strength. »
Unfortunately, not enough to overcome Yeldos Smetov, a real client who trapped him with a waza-ari. The Kazakh is a comeback player who has had his ups and downs: the world champion title in 2015 and the silver medal at the Rio Games in 2016. Then a crossing of the desert and a rebirth at the Tokyo Olympics with the bronze. Before the consecration this Saturday, July 27 against Mkheidze.
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