Deutsche Welle (English edition)
Judoka Saeid Mollaei: Tokyo a place of destiny
Iranian Saeid Mollaei just wants to be a judoka and an athlete. He’s had to fight a long time for that status and in Tokyo rewarded himself with a silver medal. His story begins and ends in the Budokan.
The Nippon Budokan is known as the spiritual home of Japanese martial arts - especially judo. The sport made its Olympic debut here at the first Tokyo Games in 1964. The octagonal main hall in Kitanomaru Park is modeled after the Horyuji temple in Mara and conveys an air of power and tranquility.
For judoka Saeid Mollaei, it is a very special place. "I want to dedicate this medal to myself first and foremost. Then to my family and then to all those who have supported me," the newly crowned Olympic silver medalist told Deutsche Welle at the press conference. The Iranian had fought his way to the final in the 81 kilogram weight category over the course of four bouts, but couldn’t get the better of home favorite Takanori Nagase of Japan.
Why did Mollaei not compete against Israeli athletes?
The Budokan, where some 11,000 spectators were expected to cheer on the judokas during the Olympic Games, is familiar territory for Mallaei. After all, it is where he lost the semifinals at the World Championships as the reigning champion two years ago - a defeat that would change his life.
Mollaei's coach received a call earlier that day from Iran's deputy sports minister with clear instructions: Mollaei was not to advance, he might eventually face an Israeli opponent in Sagi Muki during the competition. For decades, Iran has forbidden its athletes from competing against athletes from Israel because it does not recognize the country as a state. However, Mollaei continued to fight and defeated his next opponent as well.
Then, shortly before the semifinals, a staff member from the Iranian Embassy approached Mollaei in the warm-up hall and told him that security forces were at his parents' house. The judoka secured his passport, took to the mat and narrowly lost to Belgium's Matthias Casse - a final against Muki was averted. "You're supposed to be brave in life. But a thousand questions went through my head. What will happen to me or my family? So I listened to the order," Mollaei later admitted. The world title was won by Israel’s Muki.
Why is Mollaei competing for Mongolia?
On Instagram, Mollaei congratulated his successor. In Israel, he is celebrated for this gesture. "Thank you, Saeid. You are an inspiration as a person and as an athlete," Muki responded. The Ayatollah regime reacted angrily though and, after the World Championships, Mollaei departed for Germany. His dream of Olympic gold thus looked dead, because his home country would never again nominate him for a tournament.
The International Judo Federation (IFJ) supported Mollaei in his goal to compete at the Olympic Games - either in the refugee team or as an athlete of another flag. Mollaei accepted the offer of Mongolian President Chaltmaagiin Battulga to compete for the Central Asian state in the future. Asked about the Tokyo Olympics, Mollaei said, "I will come back and reclaim my right."
Why is the Budokan important to Mollaei?
In February, he traveled to Israel to compete in the Grand Slam tournament. This made him the first athlete from Iran to compete in a tournament hosted in Israel since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Although Mollaei now also holds a Mongolian passport, Iranian law states that Iranian citizenship cannot be renounced. For Mollaei, it was nevertheless
liberating. "I am very happy. Now I am like any other athlete. I am free, no problems, no politics - just an athlete." He also spent the last two months before the Olympics in Israel, training with world number six Muki, with whom he is now close friends.
Now back in Tokyo, Mollaei’s story comes full circle at the place where it began, the Nippon Budokan. In the semifinal he would have met Muki, but the latter had lost a round earlier. Mollaei made it to the final and went on to win the Olympic silver medal. "I've been through a lot, I can't see my family. But now, after two years of hard work, I'm back here," Mollaei explained when asked by DW. "Because I never really said goodbye to this place."
podium finish.
The second was claimed as German dressage team won gold once again at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Dorothee Schneider from Framersheim with 'Showtime', Isabell Werth from Rheinberg with 'Bella Rose' and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl from Tuntenhausen with 'Dalera' produced a dominant performance to beat out USA and Great Britain. It is the 14th Olympic gold for a German team in this discipline.
Other gold medals
A huge feelgood story from the Olympic surfing as Australian Owen Wright completed an incredible comeback from a traumatic brain injury to win bronze.
The 31- year- old suffered bleeding on the brain after a wipeout during training in 2015. He needed to learn how to walk again before he could then set his sights on returning to competitive surfing.
Wright's road to the bronze medal was blocked by two-time world champion Gabriel Medina, but the Australian's total score of 11.97 edged out the Brazilian's 11.77.
Italo Ferreira of Brazil defeated Kanoa Igarashi of Japan in the men's final.
The island nation of Bermuda has its first-ever Olympic gold medal thanks to Flora Duffy. The 33-year-old swam, cycled and ran her way through wind and rain to win the women's triathlon in just under two hours.
"I think [the medal] is bigger than me. It's going to inspire the youth of Bermuda and everyone back home that competing on the world stage from a small island is really possible," Duffy said.
Duffy sealed victory in a time of 1:55:36 after setting the pace in the 1.5-kilometer swim.
Great Britain's Georgia Taylor-Brown was left to rue a tire puncture near the closing stages. She rode through the flat to claim silver almost one minute behind Duffy. Katie Zaferes of the US finished in bronze.
Elsewhere in the pool, Russian athletes ended the United States' dominance in the men's 100- meter backstroke, with Evgeny Rylov taking gold and his teammate Kliment Kolesnikov finishing with silver.
It was the first time the team had lost a backstroke race since 1992. Defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy had to settle for bronze.
Britain claimed gold and silver in the men's 200-meter freestyle through Tom Dean and Duncan Scott, while Australia's
Kaylee McKeown won gold in the women's 100-meter backstroke.
More news from Tokyo
A storm off Japan's east coast remained a threat on Tuesday, despite initial fears of devastating winds and rain not coming to fruition.
While some events, such as the women's triathlon, were delayed due to the weather, surfers embraced the conditions. Organizers decided to move surfing medal events a day earlier than scheduled to take advantage of the waves.