Tag Archives: Yanet Bermoy

Gonzalez Claims His First Olympic Medal at the London Games

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London Olympics 2012

In a close final, Asley Gonzalez was thisclose to winning Olympic gold… But instead he had to settle for the silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The 22-year-old Cuban judoka lost to Song Dae-nam on Wednesday in the men’s -90kg category in judo when the South Korean fighter scored a half-point waza-ari just 10 seconds into overtime of their hard-fought final that was tied at the end of the regulation five minutes.

Asley Gonzalez

Song secured the gold by using speedy footwork to throw Gonzalez—ranked No. 4 in the world— for the win; both players were on the defensive for most of the match.

Gonzalez just couldn’t find a productive combat rhythm against the Dae-nam’s conservative approach.

Asley Gonzalez
It was the first Olympic medal for Gonzalez, who competed at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Gonzalez’s medal is Cuba’s second silver in judo after Yanet Bermoy lost the women’s 52 kg class final to North Korea’s Kum Ae-An on Sunday.

Bermoy Picks Up Cuba’s First Medal at the London Games

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London Olympics 2012

It appears history does in fact repeat itself… At least where Yanet Bermoy is concerned.

Like she did in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the 25-year-old Cuban judoka claimed her country’s first medal in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. And, another silver at that.

Yanet Bermoy

Bermoy claimed the silver in the 52 kg division in women’s judo, after succumbing to North Korea’s An Kum Ae.

“I come her to fight for the title,” she warned in the days before the competition and with that conviction she went to the mat in the ExCel Center, where she eliminated her rivals one after the other, including world No. 2 Bundmaa Munkhbaatar and Belgian Ilse Heylen, who won a bronze in Athens 2004.

Yanet Bermoy
Bermoy and An duelled for 5 long minutes and had to go to extra time where the North Korean fighter surprised the Bermoy with a leg sweep.

A disappointed Bermoy had to resign herself with a silver medal instead of the gold she’d been coveting.

“I had trained for that, I could have done better. But the Korean was too difficult to beat. I wanted to win by strategy, because I’ve never been able to throw,” said Bermoy. “The time I faced her this year in Germany (in the Grand Prix in Dusseldorf ) I beat her by two shido and I had to give a little more. I should not have lost concentration.”

Despite her disappointment, Bermoy  acknowledged being proud of being the first Cuban medallist and winning another medal in the Olympics: “Because it’s a challenge I set myself and finally got it.”