At the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games in Paris, judokas competed for medals in the men's 66 kg and women's 57 kg weight categories. Turkmenistan was represented by 20-year-old Serdar Rahimov, the 2024 Grand Slam champion in Dushanbe, and 19-year-old Maysa Pardayeva, bronze medalist at the XIX Asian Games in Hangzhou, China and the Grand Slam in Antalya, Turkey. In the men's 66 kg category, 27 athletes competed for awards, while in the women's 57 kg weight class, 28 athletes participated.
The first of the Turkmen Olympians to step onto the tatami was Serdar Rahimov, ranked 29th in the world. In the first round, he faced 27-year-old Edmilson Pedro from Angola, a tall 2022 African champion and 2024 continental bronze medalist. The opening match for our team's flag bearer at the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony proved to be far from easy. With 50 seconds left in the bout, he was losing by one "waza-ari" to the Angolan, ranked 58th in the world, who had two penalties against him. However, with 34 seconds remaining, E. Pedro received his third and final "Shido," and the referee declared "hansoku-make," meaning disqualification for violating the rules.
In the 1/8 finals, Serdar faced a much stronger opponent - 24-year-old Willian Lima from Brazil, the reigning Pan American and Oceania champion, 2019 Junior World champion, winner and medalist of many Grand Slam tournaments, and world No. 8. They had met two months earlier at the World Championships in Abu Dhabi (UAE), where S. Rahimov lost in the second round due to three penalties. Unfortunately, the same situation repeated at the Olympic Games in Paris.
The more experienced W.Lima prevented Serdar from executing any techniques, and in the third minute, after receiving three "Shido" penalties, the referee declared "hansoku-make" for our judoka. After defeating our athlete, the Brazilian judoka reached the final, where he lost two "waza-ari" to 26-year-old Hifumi Abe (Japan), who became a two-time Olympic champion. Lima ultimately settled for the silver medal. Bronze medals in the 66 kg weight category went to 31-year-old Gusman Kyrgyzbayev (Kazakhstan), ranked 26th in the world, and 28-year-old Denis Vieru (Moldova), who tops the world rankings.
The second representative of Turkmenistan in the judo tournament, Maysa Pardayeva, ranked 19th in the world in the 57 kg weight category, also started the Olympic Games with a victory. She confidently defeated 29-year-old Cai Qi from China, a bronze medalist at the 2023 European Open in Warsaw, 2023 Grand Slam in Kazakhstan, 2023 Grand Prix in Dushanbe, and 2024 Asian Championships in Hong Kong.
Notably, the opponents had met three times before in major competitions. In March last year, the Chinese judoka won at the Grand Slam in Tbilisi. However, Pardayeva won the subsequent two bouts for bronze medals at the XIX Asian Games in Hangzhou and the Grand Slam tournament in Antalya, Turkey.
At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the match went in Maysa's favor, who executed a hold-down in the 3rd minute and deservedly won by "ippon".
In the 1/8 finals, Pardayeva faced 32-year-old Rafaela Silva from Brazil, ranked 4th in the world, 2016 Rio Olympic champion, and two-time world champion. Notably, R.Silva began competing in world judo championships and cups when Maysa was only 4 years old. Over the past 15 years, R.Silva has won 22 gold, 18 silver and 21 bronze medals in major international competitions.
Experience triumphed over youth. In the 2nd minute of the bout, M. Pardayeva was caught in a submission hold and had to concede defeat. After defeating our compatriot, Rafaela Silva reached the semifinals, where she lost to the representative of the Republic of Korea, and then lost in the bronze medal match to 25-year-old three-time world champion Haruka Funakubo (Japan). The second bronze went to 26-year-old Sarah Leonie Cysique (France), silver medalist of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Christa Deguchi, a two-time world champion, became the 2024 Olympic champion in the 57 kg weight class. In the final, she defeated the current world champion Mimi Huh (Republic of Korea), winning Canada's first Olympic gold in judo.
Thus, the Turkmen judokas finished their Olympic performance one step away from the quarterfinals. In this situation, we want to support our young athletes Serdar Rahimov and Maysa Pardayeva. As juniors, they went through qualifying tournaments, earned two Olympic licenses, and for the first time represented Turkmenistan in judo at the main quadrennial competition, where competition has significantly increased.
The leadership and coaching staff of the Turkmenistan Judo Federation also deserve words of support. Thanks to the efforts of the Chairman of the National Federation Velmyrat Gurbanmyradov, senior coaches of the women's and men's national teams Tatyana Vidyasova and Gahryman Amandurdyev, and head coach of the national team, Japanese specialist Kazuhiko Tokuno, the Turkmen judo school has become known worldwide. Our judokas are now respected in all major international competitions, including Grand Slam tournaments, where they have started winning not only bronze but also gold medals.
Participating in the Olympic Games is always a good experience for any athlete. Let us hope it will help our young athletes achieve many more victories on the world stage.
