UAE judoka Aram Grigorian delivered a memorable performance at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday as he came close featuring in the bronze-medal playoff before losing to Tsilidis Theodoros of Greece.
Grigorian was in contention for a medal despite losing his quarterfinal bout to Murao Sanshiro of Japan in the under-90 kg category.
Having missed out on a place in the semifinal, Grigorian faced Theodoros in the repechage round but the Greek fighter was too strong for him.
Earlier, Grigorian won his first two matches on Tuesday against Swedish opponent Neiman Marcus and Uzbekistan’s champion Bobonov Davlat Balaybun.
Perhaps, the highlight of Grigorian’s performance on Wednesday was his victory over Neiman Marcus, who won the bronze medal at the 2023 World Judo Championships in Doha.
Six of the 14-member UAE team at the Paris Games are judokas.
“The qualification of six UAE judo players to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympics across various weight categories for both genders is an achievement for UAE judo,” Nasser Khalifa Al Budoor, Vice Chairman of the Judo Federation.
“This marks the fifth consecutive participation of UAE judokas in this global sporting event, reflecting the efforts of the National Olympic Committee. This effort aims to elevate the UAE sports flag, which enjoys the support and attention of the leadership that provides all the requirements for excellence in sports.”
On Tuesday, UAE swimmer Yousef Al Matrooshi finished 44th in the 100-metre freestyle heats.
But the 21-year-old swimmer managed to set a new personal best time of 50:39.
Meanwhile, UAE judoka Talal Shafili lost his preliminary round bout to Puerto Rican champion Gandia Adrian in the under 81kg category on Tuesday.
The UAE’s campaign at the Olympics began on Sunday when swimmer Maha Al Shehhi finished 28th in the 200m freestyle event, breaking her previous personal record (2:17.37) with a new time of 2:17.17 minutes.
Judoka Khorloodoi Bishrelt was also in action on Sunday as he lost in the round of 16 to Germany’s Mascha Ballhaus, the bronze medallist at the 2024 Abu Dhabi World Championship.
Narmand Bayan, another UAE judoka, was eliminated in the round of 32 in the under 66kg category by South Korea’s An Baul.
Equestrian rider Omar Al Marzouqi and cyclist Safiya Al Sayegh had the honour of carrying the UAE’s flag during the opening ceremony on Friday.
The UAE’s national equestrian team will compete with 20 other teams in the show jumping competition which will start in the first week of August. The show-jumping event will be followed by the individual competitions on August 5-6.
Safiya Al Sayegh, the first female Emirati cyclist to qualify for the Olympics, will be in action in the road race at the Paris Games on August 4.