PARIS (AP) — Luka Mkheidze and Shirine Boukli won France’s first two medals of the Paris Olympics in judo on Saturday night, with Mkheidze claiming silver and Boukli winning bronze.
Mkheidze lost 1-0 to Yeldos Smetov of Kazakhstan in the final of the men’s 60-kilogram division, disappointing a raucous crowd at Champ-de-Mars Arena. The No. 3-seeded Mkheidze made an impressive rally through the bracket in the lightest men’s weight class, but he couldn’t score against Smetov, who became the first Kazakh gold medal-winning judoka after taking home silver and bronze from the two previous Olympics.
About 30 minutes before Mkheidze’s loss, Boukli claimed France’s first medal of its home Olympics with a victory over Spain’s Laura Martinez in a bronze-medal match.
The 28-year-old Mkheidze was born in Georgia, and he came to France as a teenager in 2010. He quickly rose to prominence in judo, winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and he won a gold medal at last year’s European Judo Championships.
The Paris crowd was vocal in support of its two judokas, who provided one of the early signature moments of these Games even before their medal triumphs.
During the morning session, both competitors ended up on the mats simultaneously in separate matches. The fans reacted with double delight, chanting “Allez Les Blues!” and even breaking into an impromptu rendition of “La Marseillaise.”
Mkheidze and Boukli then dramatically finished their opponents with ippons that occurred mere seconds apart, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Paris will have plenty of chances to cheer on its vaunted judo team, which has a competitor in all 14 weight classes in these Olympics. Teddy Riner, the two-time individual Olympic gold medalist going for a record-tying third gold next week, joined Marie-José Pérec in lighting the Olympic cauldron on Friday night.
France is one of the world’s top judo nations, and its rivalry with fellow power Japan is likely to culminate next week in the mixed team competition.
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