Silver medalist at the London Olympics, former judoka Alexander Mikhailin told that he expects Russian judokas at the Paris Games to repeat the result of 2016 – two gold medals.
On Friday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced it would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes who successfully qualified for the 2024 Olympics to benefit from neutral status as individual athletes.
At the Olympic Games in London (2012), Russian judokas won three gold medals, in Rio (2016) two gold medals, and in Tokyo (2020) none.
— Will the trend of deteriorating results from Games to Games be interrupted? London has three gold medals, Rio has two, Tokyo has none…
— Frankly, compared to what happened in London and Rio, the Tokyo Games were a failure for Russian judokas. In 2012, we won three medals: gold, silver and bronze. In 2016 – two gold medals and one bronze. And in Tokyo, there are only three bronzes.
There is now a strong team, favored in many weights, but not all. Once again, Misha Igolnikov shows that he is getting back into shape after a slump. In the weight category up to 100 kg, we have two contenders: Arman Adamyan and Matvey Kanikovsky – both strong. The same situation applies to weights over 100 kg, there are Bashaev and Tasoev. It would be nice to repeat the result of the London Games, but it will be closer to Rio: two gold medals. There are also strong girls: Galitskaya, Taymazova, Kurbonmamadova.
— Is the draw at the Games important?
– By himself. Take me: at the London Games, Teddy Riner was seeded number one and I was seeded sixth. It turned out that we were in different subgroups and only met in the final. And if we had made the semi-finals or earlier, there might not have been a second place. But this is the case if we are talking about a result that has already happened.
The draw is of great importance. Inal Tasoev is ranked highly, which is good. The higher you are, the easier the first meetings are. It’s difficult to face a strong opponent at the start of the tournament,” Mikhailin told .
The Paris Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
