If Teddy Riner defeated Tatsuru Saito twice during the team judo final at the Paris Olympics, the Japanese admitted on Friday that he had fought with a diminished hand.
This is one of the strongest moments of the Paris Olympics. During an anthology final in the team judo event between France and Japan, Teddy Riner beat Tatsuru Saito twice. In an indescribable atmosphere and a rarely seen tension, the French team won gold and Japan took silver. A medal with the taste of defeat for the Japanese judoka whose honor was affected and who inflicted a self-flagellation session after his defeat.
“I’m really disappointed that I brought the team down with my pathetic result,” Tatsuru Saito wrote. “Honestly, I feel like I can’t return to Japan.”
“Since May, I have lost all strength in this hand”
What the public didn’t know was that the Japanese had fought against Teddy Riner with a handicap in his hand. An injury that he contracted before the Games and which forced him to recently undergo surgery.
The Olympic vice-champion only admitted it this Friday in a message posted on social networks. “Since May, I have lost all strength in this hand. After the Olympics, I had a complete examination, which turned out to be worse than I expected.” And added: “It’s not just the injury, everything has been bad for me so far.”
Morocco
