Everyone spends the moment of victory at the Olympic Games in different ways. Someone is exulting uncontrollably, someone falls to his knees in tears… But the athlete from Iran met his Olympic triumph in the most original way.
Sajjad Ganjzadeh became an Olympic champion when … he was lying unconscious on a stretcher.

And without the fatal blow that sent him to the knockout, Sajjad had almost no chance of gold.
This is truly the strangest champion of the 2020 Olympics!

Karate debuted not without problems
It is unlikely that the officials who promoted karate to the Olympic program dreamed of such a debut of their sport. At first, the only Russian karate player at the Games, Anna Chernysheva, was suspended from participating in the competition due to a positive test for coronavirus.

Then the Azerbaijani athlete Rafael Agayev hinted that in the group round he deliberately lost to the Italian, with whom he later fought in the final. But, perhaps, the most painful thing for the prospects of karate to return to the Olympics will be the story with the final in the kumite discipline among men in the weight over 75 kg.

How an athlete became a champion while unconscious
Two minutes before the end of the final match between the Iranian Sajjad Ganjzadeh and Tareg Hamedi from Saudi Arabia, the latter confidently led with a score of 4:0. But the next blow of Tareg fell not in the opponent’s body, but in the neck. The Iranian was injured and fell unconscious. He was immediately loaded onto a stretcher and carried away outside the tatami.

But the most surprising thing is that a karate player from Saudi Arabia was disqualified for exceeding the permissible contact and eventually won only silver. And the gold went to Ganjzada, who was hopelessly inferior during the fight and had almost no chance of salvation if the opponent had not struck him a forbidden blow.

“More than a martial art”

After regaining consciousness, the Iranian was surprised to learn that he had become an Olympic champion. The strangest champion of the Tokyo Olympics.

“I don’t know exactly what happened. I know that I lost and tried to catch up. The last thing I remember is that after the blow I was on a stretcher. When they brought me to my senses and I woke up, I remember how the coach said that I had won. In general, my health is fine. Only a very bad headache. I am happy to win this medal, but I also feel sorry for my opponent,” Ganjzade said.

The Iranian won gold while unconscious, and became the strangest champion of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Just an amazing curiosity! One can only guess what was going on in the soul of a karate student from Saudi Arabia, who was separated from the main triumph in life by a few seconds. But, given all the ambiguity and illogicality of what happened, Hamedi keeps stoically.

“The dream was a gold medal, not a silver, but it is a great honor for me to receive the award, and I am very proud that I am the only athlete who has won a medal for Saudi Arabia. Karate is a wonderful sport. This is more than just a martial art. It teaches discipline, respect and self-control, ” says Hamedi.
And his behavior only proves that this guy really has everything in perfect order with self-control.