Kazakh judoka Yeldos Smetov clinched
the gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. In the men’s final, he faced France’s
Luka Mkheidze in the weight category up to 60 kilograms. This was Smetov’s
third consecutive Olympics, previously taking silver in Rio de Janeiro and
bronze in Tokyo. According to the athlete, he traveled to the French capital to
complete his Olympic collection with the gold. His family fully supported this
determination.
«This is a great joy for us! He’s been
dreaming about this for a long time! He’s got bronze and silver medals, and now
he also has a gold one,» said Baktybai Smetov, Yeldos Smetov’s father.
The Kazakh Embassy in France hosted a
celebration for the Olympic champion’s victory and unveiled a media center for
the Kazakh national team. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated
Smetov on his gold medal win, highlighting the widespread admiration for the
athlete throughout the country.
«I congratulate our judoka Yeldos Smetov on
winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Paris! Thanks to his skill
and strength of spirit, the flag of Kazakhstan is flying high. Yeldos became
the best in the world in the struggle with the strongest rivals, having won the
main competitions of four years. The whole country admires you. Your victory is
a victory for our entire nation!» said the Kazakh President.
It bears noting that Kazakh judoka Gusman
Kyrgyzbayev, as well as the country’s pair in the rifle competition Alexandra
Le and Islam Satpayev won two bronze medals.