- Guram Tushishvili has been disqualified from the men’s 100kg judo competition
- He lashed out at his opponent Teddy Riner after the Frenchman claimed victory
- The incident was described as “scandalous” by Dutch television commentators.
Georgian judo star Guram Tushishvili has been disqualified from the men’s 100kg judo competition after he bizarrely appeared to kick French favourite Teddy Riner during their quarter-final clash.
Riner, a gold medallist at the 2012 and 2016 Games, advanced to the final after beating Tajikistan’s Temu Rakhimov in the resulting semi-final.
But his encounter with Tushishvili, 29, ended in ugly scenes, with the Georgian apparently clashing with the French star after Riner had landed a winning move on his opponent.
Tushishvili reacted angrily after Riner’s ippon, pushing his leg up into the Frenchman’s crotch, before going on to fend for himself and seemingly pushing the 35-year-old’s head into the canvas.
Riner, outraged by the Georgian’s lack of sportsmanship, grabbed the Georgian, who subsequently pushed him to the canvas with his hip.
Georgian judo star Guram Tushishvili (top) was disqualified for lunging at Frenchman Teddy Riner (bottom)
Tushishvili (below) kicked Riner (above) before pushing his face into the canvas during their fight.
Officials later showed Tushishvili a red card for his behaviour. Dutch NOS commentators calling his actions “scandalous.”
“What kind of aggression is this? This is not right, Georgia will be disqualified for this,” said one Eurosport commentator.
“He will be completely out of the tournament.” Another added: “He will be completely out of the tournament.”
The pair shook hands after the shocking incident and Riner was crowned the winner.
After the fight, it was confirmed that Tushishvili had been disqualified and will not be able to fight for the bronze medal.
He International Judo Federation He later issued a statement condemning the altercation.
“Following the incident that took place at the end of the quarter-final match between Teddy Riner (FRA) and Guram Tushishvili (GEO) in the +100kg weight category, the Georgian judoka’s behaviour was contrary to the ‘spirit of judo’, an ad hoc disciplinary commission was immediately convened to investigate the situation,” the governing body said.
The following decisions were made:
- ‘Guram Tushishvili is suspended from individual competition and will not be allowed to compete in the repechage.
- ‘Guram Tushishvili is suspended from participating in the mixed team event scheduled for 3 August 2024.
- ‘Guram Tushishvili is suspended from participating in any international judo competition until the IJF Disciplinary Commission meets to give a final decision. Further investigations will be carried out to determine what happened.’
Riner had scored an ippon on his opponent to win the match, and Tushishvili was outraged by his opponent’s victory.
Riner (above), a gold medallist at the 2012 and 2016 Games, advanced to the final after beating Tajikistan’s Temu Rakhimov in the resulting semi-final.
The International Judo Federation issued a statement condemning Tushishvili’s behaviour
The pair later shook hands after Riner (right) was awarded the win.
“The Georgian delegation and the athletes have been informed of the decisions,” the statement added.
Tushishvili had been bidding to improve on her silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games, having also won gold at the 2018 World Championships in Baku.
He was scheduled to face Alisher Yusupov of Uzbekistan in the play-off but will not take part in the match.
Yusupov will now face Japan’s Tatsuru Saito for the bronze medal.