Judo continues to be controversy’s favorite sport in the Paris Olympics. First, the comments of Nemanja Majdov turned several heads and now another bout has come into question. This time the Frenchman Teddy Riner and the Georgian Guram Tushisvili have found themselves getting unwanted attention. Their incident once again proves that when pressure gets high so do the temperatures. 

The +100kg Judo quarter-finals were going relatively quietly. Riner and Tushisvili were having a competitive matchup and things were evenly matched. However, things took a bizarre turn after Riner scored a point over Tushisvili. In what looked like a few exchanges of words or expressions, the Georgian grew quite frustrated and took it out on the Frenchman.

After Tuchisvili fell, he first tried to kick Riner’s crotch. However, when that failed he lifted the Frenchman from his leg and dropped him to the mat. Then the Georgian laid his hand on the Frenchman’s face and went on to push Riner around while he was down. Ultimately, Tuchisvili had lost the match but his antics proved to be much more disastrous for the Georgian team.

Guram Tuchisvili was disqualified for his actions and won’t be able to take part in the bronze medal match. However, that disqualification extends beyond just individual events. He won’t be able to take part in Georgia’s team event because he has been disqualified from the entire Olympic games. That could be a huge blow to the nation’s medal dreams. 

As for Teddy Riner, he’s on course for his fourth Olympic gold medal as he looks to face Japan’s Tatsuru Saito. However, while the Judo lovers are excited about this semi final, this incident led to some questions being raised on sportsmanship.

Teddy Riner and Guram Tushisvili’s fight divides fans

Judo has been an unusually intense sport in the Olympic games this time. Multiple fights and verbal contests have taken place between judokas and that has surprised fans. “What the hell is going on in these Olympics? Has Olympic Jude always been this toxic?” asked a fan. Questions like this have increased in number in the past few days. Sweden’s Tara Babulfath had been questioned earlier for her conduct. Similarly, Nemanja Majdov’s comments also gave negative attention to the sport. 

“Guram seems to forget Teddy has demonstrated in live competition that he can rag doll him when motivated,” noted another fan. Riner and Tushisvili have faced off before. Though the Frenchman holds the better record among the two, Tushisvili defeated him in the 2022 European Championships. The two shared a tender moment after the match where Teddy Riner congratulated and gave his respect to the smaller heavyweight. 

“Not sure if IJF has ever done it, but Gurram should be suspended from international competition,” commented a Reddit user. That is a sentiment that was being shared by many fans. They didn’t like Guram Tushisvili losing his cool against the Judo legend. The fact that this may have cost his country a chance at an Olympic medal also frustrated most Judo lovers, and so did the perceived lack of sportsmanship.

“This is against everything Judo is meant to be about, should be a serious consequences, possibly a lifetime ban imo,” said a fan. This is also a common sentiment among the Judo purists. Historically, martial arts has run on the principle of respecting your opponent and staying as calm as possible. So this show of aggression is naturally not sitting well with the fanbase.

“…and the ref just watching,” noted a person. That’s quite a statement but then one wonders what was the ref supposed to do. Could he have gotten in between the two +100kg heavyweights? In the end, the referee did what he was supposed to do and disqualified the Tushivili. 

So as of now, Judo cannot catch a break. One after the other, it’s finding itself engulfed in controversy. Could this be the end of that or is more aggression about to be seen in the finals?