Judo / Twitter.com
Saeid Mollaei, a former Iranian judoka now representing Mongolia in the Tokyo Olympics, won the silver medal in the men’s 81-kilogram division this week.
The judo world champion, who trained in Israel with their national judo team in the months before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, thanked the country in Hebrew as he dedicated his first-ever Olympic medal to Israel.
He told the Israeli Sports Channel: “Thank you to Israel for the good energy. This medal is dedicated also to Israel… I hope the Israelis are happy with this win”. He added in Hebrew: “Todah” (thank you).
Mollaei defected to Germany after he disobeyed a direct order from Iran’s minister to withdraw from the 2019 Judo World Championships in Japan to avoid fighting Israel’s Sagi Muki. It comes as two judokas bowed out of the Tokyo 2020 Games in order to avoid facing Israeli Tohar Butbul, which the International Olympic Committee vowed to investigate. Sudan’s Mohamed Abdalrasool failed to appear against Butbul in the men’s 73-kg division on Monday, without providing a reason. On Saturday, Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine pulled out of the contest to avoid facing Butbul, citing his support for the Palestinian cause.
Today, Saudi judoka Tahani al-Qahtani faced off against Israeli Raz Hershko, defying pressure to boycott the game. The pair clasped hands and raised them in the air as a show of solidarity when the bout was over.
