Featured Image Credit: Eurosport
Topics: Olympics
Josh Lawless
An Olympian was banned from competing after being disqualified in disgrace for an act he did against an opponent.
Those competing at the Olympics have to adhere to the highest of standards while representing their country but Guram Tushishvili fell below them at the 2024 showpiece in Paris and was reprimanded.
Judo star Tushishvili squared off against Frenchman Teddy Riner on his in the men's +100kg category in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Home country hero Riner picked up the victory and went all the way to claim Olympic gold but Tushishvili, a silver medalist four years earlier in Tokyo, caused a huge stir by the unsportsmanlike conduct he produced.
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After Riner executed the winning move, a furious Tushishvili appeared to push his leg into Riner's crotch when he had been thrown to the floor.
Riner ended up on the deck after a struggle and Tushishvili got right into the face of his opponent and appeared to put his hand on him, before then pushing his knee into his chest.
Boos rang out in the arena by those in attendance and commentators were left in disbelief as they watched the almighty headloss unfold.
One remarked: "What is this aggressiveness? This is not okay, this will get Georgia disqualified. This is not what we want to see."
Another weighed in: "He will be completely out of the tournament. Completely out. This is scandalous behaviour. Disrespectful. He's just throwing away an Olympic medal here."
Tushishvili's behaviour was also described as "an idiotic action", "so stupid" and "simply sad behaviour" and he was also accused of "disrespecting the whole judo culture".
He did shake hands with Riner before exiting having removed the top half of his judo attire.
Despite losing, Tushishvili still looked to have an opportunity at adding another medal to his collection. But he shot himself right in the foot with his conduct as he was disqualified from both the individual and team events.
A statement from the International Judo Federation 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."
An investigation was launched and concluded that Tushishvili was "guilty as charged", leading to a 180-day suspension from all judo events.
The suspension came to an end 25 February 2025 and Tushishvili has since returned to regular participation.