Jul 29, 2021
Canadian El-Nahas falls in bronze medal match
Canadian judoka Shady El-Nahas has finished off the podium after losing the bronze-medal match in the men's 100-kilogram division.
The Canadian Press
TOKYO — Canadian judoka Shady El-Nahas has finished off the podium after losing the bronze-medal match in the men's 100-kilogram division.
The 23-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., lost to Jorge Fonseca of Portugal by waza-ari.
Fonseca, weeks away from winning his second world title in June, appeared to lack energy for much of the match and was assessed an early penalty for ducking under an El-Nahas attack.
The Portuguese veteran later showed his trademark quickness, however, landing a scoring throw at the 3:24 mark.
Fonseca was given a second penalty for an ill-timed attack, making for a tense final 26 seconds. But he held on for the win, countering a promising El-Nahas throw attempt in the final seconds.
El-Nahas defeated Israel's Peter Paltchik by ippon to advance to the medal round but will ultimately finish his first Olympics in fifth place.
Earlier, El-Nahas won his two first matches before being defeated by world No. 1 Varlam Liparteliani of Georgia in the quarterfinals.
El-Nahas first beat Ivan Remarenco of the United Arab Emirates by immobilization and then Azerbaigan's Zelym Kotsoiev by ippon before falling to Liparteliani.
The Georgian first scored a waza-ari using an uki-otoshi throw halfway through the match, then added a second waza-ari with only three seconds left for an ippon victory over El-Nahas.
Canada has two bronze medals in judo at this Olympics, coming from Jessica Klimkait in the women's 57-kilogram and from Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard in the 63-kilogram.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2021.