Unconscious Sajad Ganjzadeh awarded +75kg males’s gold for Iran as Saudi Arabia’s Tareg Hamedi was disqualified for a excessive kick.
The ultimate bout of karate’s historic debut on the Olympics led to an uproar when Saudi Arabian Tareg Hamedi’s excessive kick to Iran’s Sajad Ganjzadeh’s neck noticed him disqualified and his immobile opponent awarded gold within the males’s over-75kg ultimate.
Hardly a minute in, Hamedi appeared dominant, having scored a three-point “ippon” within the ninth second and he was main 4-1 earlier than the bout on Saturday got here to an abrupt finish.
Hamedi’s ultimate kick despatched Ganjzadeh to the tatami mat and the Saudi into celebration mode earlier than the temper within the Nippon Budokan area turned. Medics rushed to Ganjzadeh’s facet, inserting an oxygen masks on the Iranian and eradicating him on a stretcher.
After a couple of minutes of debate among the many officers on the sidelines, the referee referred to as the match for Ganjzadeh by disqualifying Hamedi for an unchecked assault, which isn’t allowed below karate’s Olympic guidelines.
Ganjzadeh returned later for the medal ceremony, strolling usually. Each he and Hamedi had been expressionless as they stepped as much as the rostrum and picked up their medals.
They appeared to harbour no laborious emotions in direction of one another, nevertheless, as they hugged and posed for images collectively.
“I’m joyful concerning the gold medal however I’m unhappy that I needed to win it like this,” Ganjzadeh advised a information convention.
Hamedi took the loss in his stride, saying he was sad with the choose’s choice however glad with how he fought.
Turkey’s Ugur Aktas and Japan’s Ryutaro Araga took the bronze medals within the males’s +75kg kumite class.
The ladies’s gold medal within the +61kg class went to Egypt’s Feryal Abdelaziz, who received her nation’s second gold medal since 1948 by beating Azerbaijan’s Iryna Zaretska within the ultimate. Kazakhstan’s Sofya Berultseva and China’s Gong Li took the bronzes.
Ganjzadeh was the second karateka on Saturday to be carried away on a stretcher.
Germany’s gold-medal hopeful Jonathan Horne suffered a mid-bout damage in the course of the elimination spherical that left him writhing and screaming in agony and unable to rise from the tatami.
The German Olympic Sports activities Confederation press officer Michael Schirp mentioned Horne had suffered an elbow damage that might be examined additional in hospital. The extent of the injury was nonetheless unknown, he mentioned.
Horne, the reigning world champion within the +84kg class, had 20 seconds left in his match.
Earlier within the ladies’s +61kg class contest, Italian Silvia Semeraro’s head was bandaged up whereas venue workers changed the tatami panels stained together with her blood.