“Ilya Sulaymanidze was sacrificed, the gold medal was taken away, this is a tragedy for the International Judo Federation” – what did the angry Lasha Goduadze write?

Georgian judoka Ilya Sulaymandze (100 kg) won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics. The 23-year-old Georgian lost to Azerbaijan’s Zelim Kozoev in the final of the event and won the silver medal in his first Olympic Games. Writer Lasha Goduadze responded to the incident on social networks and wrote that an injustice had occurred. According to him, Ilya was sacrificed and the gold that was deserved was taken away.

“What happened to Ilya Sulaymanidze today is not a tragedy for Georgian judokas, but a tragedy for the International Judo Federation. No matter how much time passes, I will always say and write that on August 1, 2024, in the final of the Paris Olympics, Ilya Sulaymanidze was killed.

It was not the referee who did not allow him to win the final, but his superior, the so-called supervisor. According to his instructions, the tatami referee warned the Georgian for the third time a few seconds before the end of the final and gave up the well-deserved cash medal. I want to emphasize that the Hungarian referee himself, following the instructions of the supervisor, would not have warned the Georgian judoka for the third time.

Ilya deserved the title. From the first match to the final, he wrestled perfectly, confidently and aggressively against all his opponents. He won the semifinals in record time and I think his opponent before Ilya in Paris was only beaten by Daria Bilodide from Ukraine. The Georgian won the decisive match against Vazar and seconds before the end of the match, someone behind the mat decided that the gold medal should go to his Azerbaijani opponent and not himself.

If this was a preliminary round, even then, giving a third warning to an athlete seconds before the end of the race would have been a bad decision, especially in a final.

If it was Shido the first time, I could understand it, but the third time, warning the judoka who won the main battle with perfect moves and punches, and the opponent can’t even attack well… What should I do? You know, isn’t it unfair? If not, what is the sacrifice of the athlete?

Time will pass, this story will not be remembered by many, and Ilya Sulamandze will go down in history as a silver medalist at the Paris Olympics, but nothing will make me forget this injustice.

As I have not forgotten the freestyle wrestling final at the London Olympics, the referee killed Vladimir Hinchegashvili.

As I have not forgotten, in the Tokyo Olympics fencing semi-final, the referee observers did not allow Sandro Bazza to win the gold medal.

Ilya’s play is also a continuation of these news.

If you ask me, I should have protested against this incident. I know that the outcome of the fight will not change, but in the IJF they should still feel that an injustice has happened and no one will accept throwing dust in their eyes. Otherwise, Georgians may suffer again due to this negligence,” Lasha Goduadze wrote.