Russian judoka Mikhail Igolnikov, who won the Grand Slam tournament in Ulaanbaatar, explained why this result was particularly important.
In the fight for gold in the weight category up to 90 kg, Mikhail was stronger than Davlat Bobonov from Uzbekistan.
– Thank you all, it was very difficult – such prepared sentences. I met him during a small tournament where I made a small negligence. But today, we have a completely different issue at stake. For a long time, we had no international departures. It was a little hard, I had to swing in the first fights. Moreover, I met only Asians, who, with their difficult technique, their style. It was very important to win because we don’t know when the next international departure will take place. It’s an Olympic qualification. This is our first step towards the Olympic license.
I would like to thank the president of our judo federation, Vasily Vasilyevich Anisimov, who came to support us at the airport when we flew to the competition. We are not allowed to play with Russian symbols, so we received new special equipment. I also want to say hello to my hometown of Tuapse, as well as to Yekaterinburg: everyone was watching, cheering me on, Igolnikov told .
The Russians act in Ulaanbaatar as neutral athletes. The tournament in Mongolia was the first for Russian athletes since the suspension due to the situation in Ukraine.
Source : MatchTV
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