Canada's Elnahas eliminated in men's judo at Paris Olympics

PARIS — When he got out of bed in the Olympic Village in Paris on Thursday, Canadian judoka Shady Elnahas felt something was off. Unable to shake off his uneasiness, the 26-year-old from Toronto saw his quest for a medal cut short in his first bout of the day.

Elnahas, who is originally from Alexandria, Egypt, was defeated by a waza-ari from Switzerland’s Daniel Eich in the under-100-kilogram category Round of 16 after 34 seconds of sudden-death overtime at Champ-de-Mars Arena.

“When the day started, I wasn’t really feeling well,” Elnahas said. "You have to find a way, but I didn't find one. ... Nothing was working. My body seemed slow."

That's the beauty and the cruelty of the Olympics, said head coach Antoine Valois-Fortier. "It's one day every four years. You get up and it's today, it's neither tomorrow nor yesterday," he said.

It will be up to the team to pinpoint why Elnahas was feeling that way Thursday, Valois-Fortier added.

"We shouldn't forget that just two months ago, Shady was still fighting for his place. Maybe the qualification process was long and demanding. Did he have time to recover? These are questions I don't have the answers to at this time," the coach said.

Eich, who is ranked 14th in the world and finished ninth in the world championship earlier this year, was bested by Elnahas at the Tokyo Grand Slam last year, the only time the two faced each other before Thursday.

"It's disappointing to lose against someone you usually beat. But that's judo — anything can happen," Elnahas said.

The 26-year-old usually has an aggressive fighting style but seemed to hesitate throughout Thursday's elimination bout. The judoka, who finished the tournament in ninth place, was clearly asking himself a lot of questions as he met with Canadian journalists in the mixed zone, and mentioned a thumb fracture he suffered about two weeks ago that required surgery.

"I didn't do a lot of judo for a week or two, at least not really until now. It hurts a bit but I could fight. The longer the fight went on, the harder I went. But when he countered, that was the end," he said.

Valois-Fortier clarified that Elnahas still did judo in that time, starting after four or five days of recovery.

"We were able to put something good in place," the coach said. "For me, the bigger question is, did this affect him mentally?"

This setback is a big disappointment for the Canadian team, which only has Christa Deguchi's gold medal to take home. Deguchi triumphed Monday in the under-57-kilogram category.

"Shady didn't come here for this and in the last few months, he's shown he's part of the world elite. Of course, he must be disappointed," Valois-Fortier said.

Elnahas said he wasn't sure how to feel or what to think after Thursday's outcome.

"I just want to spend some time with my family and my girlfriend. I'll think back on today later," he said.

"I'm proud of my path. I'm No. 2 (in the world). The qualifying process was really hard. But I'm not really proud of the day I had today," he noted.

Valois-Fortier and Judo Canada's high-performance team had set a goal of two to three medals in individual events. The only one still competing is Ana Laura Portuondo Isasi, of La Prairie, Que., in the over-78-kilogram category on Friday, but the judoka ranked 56th in the world doesn't represent a real hope for a medal in the tournament.

Canada will also compete in the mixed-team event on Saturday.

Valois-Fortier said he wouldn't bring up the team competition with Elnahas until Friday.

"He needs time to digest this defeat," the coach said.

Elnahas made his Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games, finishing in a tie for fifth place in the same event.

He came in second at the world championships this year and won gold at the Pan American Games in Santiago last year. He is ranked third in the world for his weight class.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2024.