Francisco Garrigós has given Spain its first medal of the 2024 Paris Games.
The 29-year-old Spanish judoka, defeated Georgia’s reigning world champion Giorgi Sardalashvili to claim a bronze medal in the first men’s judo competition of the 2024 Summer Olympics, the men’s 60 kg.
Garrigos has been on form in this past Olympiad, claiming European and World titles, putting him among the best in the 60kg weight category, and on Saturday he continued his bid to collect more major medals.
Falling only to the eventual Olympic champion, Yeldos Smetoc of Kazakhstan, Garrigos steadily made his way through his portion of the draw, defeating Ryuju Nagayama of Japan for the first time after suffering losses to him five previous times. It was his ne waza skills that helped him greatly toward success on the first day of the judo events in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Garrigos’ final opponent standing in the way of an Olympic medal was Sardalashvili, the youngest in Georgian judo. Though both can boast World titles, the Spanish athlete has experience on his side and after an exhausting head to head, Garrigos earned the score with a tomoe nage.
“I was nervous, it’s the Olympic Games and everyone is watching you, including my family, and expecting you to do well. But I have dedicated myself to enjoying it, forgetting about the result and the medal possibility, but also knowing that my performance depends entirely on me,” Garrigos said after his performance.
It’s Brazil’s first silver medal of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Lima became a two-time champion at the Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, after obtaining the gold medal in 2024.
