They started beautifully. They ended terribly. The Olympic Games were a great moment to live, especially the first day when Karate was so great.
The tournament has generally shown a beautiful image of the sport, unfortunately tarnished by the KO of Sajad Ganjzadeh at the end of these Games, which raises the question of the rules and their interpretation. But, fortunately, these Tokyo Olympics are not limited to this controversy.
The advent of Da Costa and Prekovic, the surprise win of Goranova, Kiyuna’s homage to her mother, Busa’s victory over Aghayev, Hamedi’s sadness, Japan kumite failure… Horrors and misfortunes of this 1st tournament Olympic Games in history, as well as all results and podiums.
By Ludovic Mauchien and Florian Fournier
NATIONS : JAPAN 1st THANKS TO KATA
20 medalist countries, 8 gold nations, the two 1st places for Japan and Spain thanks to Kata (1 gold, 1 silver). Italy is 3rd in this Olympic ranking, also thanks to a podium in Kata.
France, Bulgaria, Serbia and Iran, thanks to 1 gold medal, finished 5th.
1. Japan (1, 1, 1)
2. Spain (1, 1, 0)
3. Italy, Egypt (1, 0, 1)
5. France, Bulgaria, Serbia, Iran (1, 0, 0)
9. Azerbaijan (0, 2, 0)
10. Turkey (0, 1, 3)
11. China, Ukraine (0, 1, 1)
13. Saudi Arabia (0, 1, 0)
14. Kazakhstan (0, 0, 2)
15. Jordany, Hungary, USA, Austria, Taipei, Hong-Kong (0, 0, 1)
THE GREATS
Steven Da Costa, the new prince
If there’s one everyone agrees on, it’s Steven Da Costa. His confrontation with Assadilov and others was expected. The outcome ? 5-2 against the Kazakh in the ½ final, 5-0 in the final against the Turkish Eray Samdan and a title of Olympic champion (-67 kg). Already World champion and European champion, the Frenchman won everything at just 24 years old.
Ryo Kiyuna, the emperor who pays tribute to his mother
He is the emperor on the tatami mats, but also outside. The Japanese Ryo Kiyuna, a very discreet, even mystical character, will remain as one of the great actors of these Olympics. Not only because he won the gold medal, but also because of his attitude. After his win, he sat down in seiza in the middle of the mat to salute, which will go down as one of the highlights of these Games. He then went on the podium with a photo of his mother, who died 2 years ago. Osu !
Ivet Goranova, the queen surprise
No one saw her coming up. But... Who is the Olympic champion in -55 kg ? This is Ivet Goranova. At 21, the World No.13 and n°27 in the Olympics beat everybody with no complaints. The young Bulgarian has totally mastered her subject and her opponents. 5-2, 5-1, 5-2 against Wen, Ozcelik and Bahmanyar, 4-3 against Plank in ½ final and 4-1 in the final against Terliuga. Hands down !
Tareg Hamedi, the sheikh from Arabia
He was not one of the favorites but one of the contenders. Winner of the qualifying tournament in Paris, where he had made a strong impression, Tareg Hamedi illuminated the Nippon Budokan. For many, the young Saudi, 23, is the Olympic champion in heart. Dominating in the final against Ganjzadeh (4-1), the KO he inflicted on the Iranian deprived him of a title that was open to him. Junior world champion in 2015, senior Asian champion in 2017 and 2019, the Sheikh of the tatami mats is on his way.
Two historic doubles !
They are only two to have managed the fabulous doublet world champion - Olympic champion, the French Steven Da Costa (-67 kg) and the Serbian Jovana Prekovic (-61 kg). The latter even achieved the treble thanks to her European title won in May.
The competition format : to renew ?
10 fighters, 2 pools of 5, ½ finals, final. The format adopted for these Olympics convinced us. We could fear calculations and restraint, we had engaged and swirling fights, opposing (almost) all the best in the world. A concept to take up ? We go for it! Why not have a Masters every year on the same principle ?
Wayne Otto even thinks about Karate 1 :”I love this format. It would be interesting to do the Premier Leagues like that. We spend a lot of money getting to these tournaments and sometimes we just have one fight”.
13 flagship karatekas
Karate was in the spotlight at these Olympics, especially at the closing ceremony. 13 countries had decided to entrust their flags to karatekas. Snub the IOC or a tribute from the sporting world to Karate ? It was in any case beautiful to see.
THE DOWNS
Japan out of sight
They had been preparing for 5 years, increasing the number of long seminars abroad, except obviously since the start of the pandemic. It’s one of the reasons the Japanese didn’t really shine at “their” Games, according to Wayne Otto. “With the Covid, they were isolated. If these Games had happened a year ago, some results would have been different”.
Still, the harvest is poor. Only one bronze medal in Kumite for Araga. Fortunately, the Kata saves them the day (1 gold, 1 silver). Otherwise, the Japanese were from disappointment to disappointment : Miyahara, Uekusa and Nishimura, eliminated in pool. Their domination in kata cannot hide this failure in Kumite.
Serap Ozcelik, zero points
She hadn’t accustomed us to this. We don’t even remember seeing her lose so much. 3 fights, 3 loss. The Turkish Serap Ozcelik, so brilliant for 10 years, world No.1, Olympic No.1, left Tokyo empty-handed to everyone’s surprise.
A KO to end : Hansoku or Mubobi ?
We usually remember the last moments... We could not fear a worse conclusion. For the last fight of the final day, the heavyweight final ended up fishtail with the KO of Sajad Ganjzadeh, ultimately declared the winner at the expense of Tareg Hamedi.
Hansoku or Mubobi ? The question will haunt people’s minds for a long time. The answer given in Tokyo tarnished the magnificent image that karate had given so far, because incomprehensible for the majority of the public, even for some aficionados. Rule or spirit ? First, it would be necessary to be certain that the rule was logically applied, which is not so obvious looking at the action, Ganjzadeh can also be considered as having put himself in danger. Was Hamedi’s Mawashi given with the idea of hurting ? The answer seems obvious : it’s no. What is a rule ? A tool to respect the spirit. And the spirit of combat sports is that the loser is on the ground and the winner is standing. For the image of Karate, we can do better.
THE GAMES, IT WAS ALSO...
The visit of Thomas Bach
Although not Karate’s best friend, IOC President Thomas Bach has come to Nippon Budokan to watch the competition. He was able to meet with WKF President Antonio Espinos.
Japan / Spain : thanks Kata
The Japanese and the Spanish can thank their technicians. Without Kata, these 2 flagship nations of Karate would not appear in the Olympic ranking.
8 golds, 8 countries
Out of 8 categories present, we had 8 Olympic champion nations. In addition to this perfect distribution, karate shows that it is international since the Olympic champions come from all areas (France, Bulgaria, Serbia, Japan, Spain, Italy, Iran, Egypt).
Elena Quirici so close, so far
Well, yes, Elena Quirici, with 5 points in the pool, did the job to qualify for the ½ final. She is the only athlete with 5 points to have been eliminated. Because, in +61 kg, it was so tight that it was necessary to use the number of points scored to decide the qualification. It was thus Feryal Abdelaziz (14 points scored) and Li Gong (13) who went to the ½ finals. Elena Quirici (10) remained at the dock.
Turkey, 1st with 4 medals
In terms of the number of medals won, Turkey finished 1st nation with 4 podiums. But it only ranks 10th nation because, of its 7 athletes, only one made it to the final and none won any titles.
Crescenzo and Horne out for injury
Italian world champion Angelo Crescenzo (-60 kg) was injured in his first fight and had to forfeit. It was even more dramatic for Jonathan Horne. In pool, on an Arkania action, the German landed badly and broke his arm. Good luck for your recovery, Jonny.
THE OLYMPIC GAMES : ALL THE RESULTS
-67 KG : STEVEN DA COSTA IS THE BOSS
Final
Steven Da Costa (Fra) b. Eray Samdan (Tur), 5-0
½ finals
Steven Da Costa b. Darkhan Assadilov (Kaz), 5-2
Eray Samdan b. Abdel Almasatfa (Jor), 2-0
The Olympic podium
1. Steven Da Costa (Fra)
2. Eray Samdan (Tur)
3. Darkhan Assadilov (Kaz) et Abdel Almasatfa (Jor)
-75 KG : BUSA MASTERS AGHAYEV
Final
Luigi Busa (Ita) b. Rafael Aghayev (Aze), 1-0
½ finals
Rafael Aghayev b. Gabor Harspataki (HUn), 7-0
Luigi Busa (Ita) b. Stanislav Horuna (Ukr), 3-0
The Olympic podium
1. Luigi Busa (Ita)
2. Rafael Aghayev (Aze)
3. Gabor Harspataki (HUn) / Stanislav Horuna (Ukr)
+75 KG : HAMEDI DISQUALIFIED, GANJZADEH KO AND CHAMPION
Final
Sajad Ganjzadeh (Irn) b. Tareg Hamedi (KSA), disqualification
½ finals
Tareg Hamedi b. Ryutaro Araga (Jpn), 2-0
Sajad Ganjzadeh b. Ugur Aktas (Tur), 2-2 (Senshu)
The Olympic podium
1. Sajad Ganjzadeh (Irn)
2. Tareg Hamedi (KSA)
3. Ryutaro Araga (Jpn) / Ugur Aktas (Tur)
KATA M : KIYUNA, OF COURSE !
Final
Ryo Kiyuna (Jpn) b. Damian Quintero (Spa) -28.72 / 27.66
Bronze medals
Ariel Torres Gutierrez (Usa) b. Antonio Diaz (Ven) – 26.72 26.34
Ali Sofuoglu (Tur) b. Heejun Park (Kor) – 27.26 / 26.14
The Olympic podium
1. Ryo Kiyuna (Jpn)
2. Damian Quintero (Spa)
3. Ali Sofuoglu (Tur) / Ariel Torres Gutierrez (USA)
-55 KG : GORANOVA’S DAY OF GLORY
Final
Ivet Goranova (Bul) b. Anzhelica Terliuga (Ukr), 4-1
½ finals
Ivet Goranova b. Bettina Plank (Aut), 4-3
Anzhelica Terliuga b. Wen Tzu-Yun (Tpe), 4-4 (5-0 flags)
The Olympic podium
1. Ivet Goranova (Bul)
2. Anzhelica Terliuga (Ukr)
3. Bettina Plank (Aut) et Wen Tzu-Yun (Tpe)
-61 KG : PREKOVIC AT THE FLAGS
Final
Jovana Prekovic (Srb) b. Xiaoyan Yin (Chn), 0-0 (3-2 flags)
½ finals
Xiaoyan Yin b. Giana Lotfy (Egy), 1-2 (3-2 flags)
Jovana Prekovic b. Merve Coban (Tur), 2-0
The Olympic podium
1. Jovana Prekovic (Srb)
2. Xiaoyan Yin (Chn)
3. Giana Lotfy (Egy) / Merve Coban (Tur)
+61 KG : ABDELAZIZ THE SURPRISE
Final
Feryal Abdelaziz (Egy) b. Iryna Zaretska (Aze), 2-0
½ finals
Iryna Zaretska b. Li Gong (Chn), 7-2
Feryal Abdelaziz b. Sofya Berultseva (Kaz), 5-4
The Olympic podium
1. Feryal Abdelaziz (Egy)
2. Iryna Zaretska (Aze)
3. Li Gong (Chn) / Sofya Berultseva (Kaz)
KATA F : HISTORICAL DOUBLET FOR SANCHEZ JAIME
Final
Sandra Sanchez Jaime (Spa) b. Kiyou Shimizu (Jpn), 28.06 vs 27.88
Bronze medals
Grace Lau (HK) b. Dilara Bozan (Tur), 26.94 vs 26.52
Viviana Bottaro (Ita) b. Sakura Kokumaï (USA), 26.48 vs 25.40
The Olympic podium
1. Sanchez Jaime (Spa)
2. Shimizu (Jpn)
3. Lau (HK) et Bottaro (Ita)
