Olympic athlete was immediately disqualified from Games after 'scandalous behaviour' against opponent

An Olympic athlete suffered instant disqualification for what he did against an opponent at the Games in Paris last year.

High standards are expected from all athletes representing their country but last year in the French capital, Georgia's Guram Tushishvili fell way below them when he took on home country hero Teddy Riner in the men's +100kg category in judo.

Tushishvili, a world champion in 2018 in Baku, faced off against Riner in the quarter-finals but his tournament ended in disgrace following an act of unsportsmanlike conduct.

Tushishvili did not respond well to the winning maneuver executed by Riner and appeared to push his leg into Riner's crotch in a shocking turn of events.

Not finished there, the 30-year-old gestured with his hand right in front of Riner's face in an angry manner as he was on the floor.

He was loudly booed by the fans in attendance and received further jeers when he pushed his knee against the chest of the Frenchman.

Commentators were left completely stunned by Tushishvili's antics, with one describing the action for NOS saying: "What is this aggressiveness? This is not okay, this will get Georgia disqualified."

"He will be completely out of the tournament."

Another weighed in: "Completely. This is scandalous behaviour. Disrespectful. He's just throwing away an Olympic medal here."

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With judo having an incredibly strict set of rules that athletes must follow, Tushishvili was made an example of and was disqualified - ultimately missing out on the chance to add a bronze medal to the silver one he won in Tokyo in 2020.

To make matters worse, the International Judo Federation also announced that he was disqualified altogether and could not even compete in the team event.

A statement said: "Following the incident that took place at the end of the quarter-final between Teddy Riner (FRA) and Guram Tushishvili (GEO) in the +100 kg weight category, the behaviour of the Georgian judoka was against the 'spirit of judo,’ an ad hoc disciplinary commission was called immediately together to investigate the situation."

A further investigation followed and decided that after being found "guilty as charged", Tushishvili ought to serve a 180-day suspension - which lasted until 25 February 2025 - from all judo activities at any level.

He did participate in the European Judo Championships in April.

Guram Tushishvili was disqualified for his actions. Image: Getty

Riner went on to go all the way and claimed Gold medals in the +100kg and the mixed team category to move to seven overall podiums in the Olympics.