A sports event is not the first place where you would expect a political controversy to take place. Nurali Emomali would want to disagree with you. The Tajikistani Judoka underwent two tragedies on the same day at the Paris Olympics 2024. While one was a consequence of his actions, the other happened shortly after.

The sports world has been abuzz since the controversy took place surrounding Emomali and the Israeli opponent that he faced on 07/28 inside the Champ-de-Mars arena. If you are unaware of what went down during the Judo games at the Olympics this year, you may want to keep reading.

The controversy surrounding Judoka Nurali Emomali

One of his matches during the round of 16 in the 66 kg weight class was against Baruch Shmailov, a Judoka representing Team Israel. Emomali made quick work of him on the mat, as the match between them ended within 1:17 minutes. As goes the tradition, the two sportspersons were supposed to shake hands, but Emomali refused to do so.

The benefit of the doubt also wore off when he shouted a political cry, clarifying the intentions behind not shaking hands with his Israeli opponent.

The 22-year-old stirred a lot of controversy with this move. He faced media backlash for what he did publicly, and both the viewers and the global community watching the event were not happy with what went down. The hate for him continued further during the tournament as his dream to win a medal for his nation broke during the quarterfinals.

Nurali Emomali suffers double debacle at the 2024 Olympics

If the media backlash wasn’t enough of a punishment for the Tajikistani Judoka, things worsened for him at his Olympic debut. He was facing Japan’s pride and the former 66 kg weight class champion, Hifumi Abe, during the quarterfinal match. Although things seemed to be going well for the Judoka, this is exactly where his luck took a U-turn and went away for good. During an interesting match, Emomali found himself lying on the ground, unable to defend himself as his shoulder had been dislocated. The Judoka was crying due to the immense pain and partly because his dream to win gold had ended.

Abe went on to defend his title as the champion and remained undefeated in his category by bringing the gold medal home. On the contrary, Nurali Emomali struggled to gain even an ounce of sympathy from various fans because of what happened earlier the same day. Paris Olympics 2024 quickly turned into a nightmarish reality for the athlete as he faced two tragedies on just one Sunday. Some even called this injury an ‘instant karma’ for his actions just a few moments before this happened.

This wasn’t the first injury at the Paris Olympics but the controversy attached to it highlights it over others.