From our special correspondent in Paris – Tempers ran high Friday in Paris’s pop-up Champs de Mars Arena, with Georgian judoka Guram Tushishvili disqualified after throwing a rare tantrum following his defeat at the hands of French judo giant Teddy Riner. Riner went on to win his fourth Olympic gold medal, with Brazil’s Beatriz Souza securing first place in the women’s competition after beating French hopeful Romane Dicko in the semi-finals.
One of the legion of French fans has smuggled what sounds like a snare drum into Paris’s Champ de Mars Arena, and the Gallic chants that shake the packed stadium throughout the evening are backed by a harsh, martial beat. As France’s judo giants throw challenger after challenger to the mat, the abrupt thunder of a vuvuzela cuts through the tumult, a clarion call urging the two judokas on to ever greater feats of strength.
