Bulgarian Ivaylo Ivanov (in white) faces Lebanon's Caramnob Sagaipov (in blue) during the round of 16 of the Olympic judo tournament in under 90 kg, Wednesday, July 31 at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, on the tatami of the Champ-de-Mars arena. (Credit: Luis Robayo/AFP)
While he intended to "fight for the podium" in Paris for his first Olympic Games, Caramnob Segaipov lost in the 16th finals of the under 90 kg judo tournament, Wednesday on the tatami of the Champ-de-Mars arena.
He was dominated by Bulgarian fighter Ivaylo Ivanov, who won after five minutes of regulation time with a "Ko-Uchi-Gari," a "small inside mowing" in Japanese. This hold, carried out one minute from the end, allowed the Bulgarian to be credited with a "Waza-ari," which is obtained when the opponent falls on his back, but he lacks a criterion for the "ippon," "a whole point," the highest score a fighter can obtain during a fight.
"Caramnob has been very disappointed since yesterday, he thought he could do better and fight for a medal," stated his coach Francois Saadeh, contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour. "He suffered too much and was not able to free himself and put his judo in place ... But he fell right away against a very good opponent."
Bulgarian Ivaylo Ivanov (in white) encircles the head of Lebanese Caramnob Sagaipov (in blue) during the round of 16 of the Olympic judo tournament in under 90 kg, Wednesday July 31 at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, on the tatami of the Champ-de-Mars arena. (Credit: Luis Robayo/AFP)
Ivaylo Ivanov indeed got the upper hand on the Lebanese from the very first moments. Put under pressure by his opponent's aggressiveness, Segaipov had been penalized with a "shido" for lack of fighting spirit halfway through the fight. Qualified, the Bulgarian was then eliminated in the next fight by the Georgian Lasha Bekauri, winner of the gold medal a few hours later thanks to his victory in the final against the Japanese Sanshiro Murao.
At 27, the judoka born in Chechnya (Russia) became a naturalized Lebanese citizen in 2019, his mother's homeland. He thus followed in the footsteps of Nassif Elias, a Brazilian judoka, also naturalized Lebanese to participate in the Rio Games in 2016 … his great-grandfather being Lebanese.
"We have hope in Caramnob and we hope that this defeat will allow him to come back even stronger in four years," assured Saadeh. The third Lebanese judoka to participate in the Olympics, Segaipov represented one of the main chances of a medal for the Lebanese delegation after the bronze he won in 2023 at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
The 44-year wait thus continues for Lebanon, still orphaned of an Olympic medal since the Moscow Games in 1980, where Hassan Beshara won bronze in Greco-Roman wrestling. The last chance for Lebanon not to leave empty-handed from these Paris Games now rests on the shoulders of Laetitia Aoun, who will compete in taekwondo in a week, on Thursday, Aug. 8.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.