An Olympian suffered a catastrophic injury after snubbing his opponent in a dramatic and painful turn that was caught on camera.
The reversal in fortune happened Sunday at the Paris Games.
The incident began to unfold as Tajikistani judoka Nurali Emomali faced off against Israeli Baruch Shmailov in the men’s judo 66 kilogram elimination round of 16.
According to Olympic records, Emomali won the match, but it’s what happened after that truly matters.
Instead of the typical sportsmanlike handshake, Emomali celebrated his win by raising his index finger in the Muslim “finger of Tawheed” symbol and reportedly shouting the short Islamic creed of “Allah Akbar.”
On Emomali’s Instagram profile, he proclaimed in Cyrillic-type Tajik, “victory and defeat only from the Almighty,” following the statement with an emoji of an index finger pointing upwards.
Video of the incident soon flooded social media platforms, with critics calling out Emomali for the childish and divisive display. One clip of the match’s immediate aftermath can be seen below.
Baruch Shmailov 🇮🇱 a été éliminé en huitièmes de finale par Nurali Emomali 🇹🇯. Le judoka tadjikistanais a alors scandé “Allah Akbar” et refusé de serrer la main du judoka israélien comme le veut la tradition.#JO2024 #ParisOlympics2024 pic.twitter.com/FkdsyMf374
— Kevin Rose (@Rose2024Rose) July 28, 2024
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Emomali would soon get his just desserts, however.
Shortly after his match with the Israeli, the Tajikistani judoka found himself sparring against Japan’s Abe Hifumi in the day’s quarterfinals.
The match would end in disaster for Emomali, who was painfully and brutally folded like a pretzel in front of an international audience.
To make matters worse for the Muslim Olympian, he suffered a serious injury while being thrown to the mat by Hifumi. The throw took him out of the match and had him howling in pain on the floor.
Video below shows the brutal throw. Emomali appears to break his fall with his arm, which is then bent in an unnatural position as the weight of two bodies crashing down causes it to buckle.
WARNING: The following video may contain images that are disturbing to some readers.
Tajikistan’s Nurali Emomali refused to shake hands with Israeli Judoka Baruch Shmailov and shouted “Allahu Akbar” after beating him.
In the next round, he faced a judoka from Japan and then…this happened.
Olympic karma at its finest. pic.twitter.com/xVXhuY9Pq8
— Eli Kowaz – איליי קואז (@elikowaz) July 28, 2024
Emomali’s fall caused him to dislocate his shoulder and forced him to abandon the Games, according to Sportskeeda.
The rudeness from the Tajikistani Olympian was not the only indignity Israeli athletes apparently had to suffer on the judo mat.
According to France24, Algerian judoka Messaoud Dris “removed himself from the competition” Sunday by missing a weigh-in threshold by some 400 grams. He was scheduled to compete against an Israeli Olympian.
Missing weight is a rarity for trained practitioners of judo.
Dris might have pushed too far this time, because the international governing body of judo has announced an investigation will be launched into the disqualification.
“During the Paris Olympic Games official weight control, Mr Dris arrived for the weight control session ten minutes before the deadline and was found to be 400 grams over the allowed weight limit to compete,” the International Judo Federation wrote in a statement Monday.
“The IJF firmly upholds the principles of fair play, the Olympic spirit and non-discrimination. We believe that sport should remain a realm of integrity and fairness, free from the influences of international conflicts. Unfortunately, athletes often become victims of broader political disputes, which are against the values of sport.”
The IJF vows to launch “a full review and investigation of the situation” following the close of the Games.
