Joan-Benjamin Gaba: Another feat at the Olympics! Who is the sensation of the day in judo ?

Joan-Benjamin Gaba created a surprise at the Paris Olympic Games on Monday July 29 by reaching the final of the -73kg tournament. The French judoka beat two favourites for gold, including Japan's Hashimoto in the quarter-finals. Enough to dream of Olympic glory…

This was the big odds for French judo and it will be one of the huge surprises of the Olympic Games on the French side. 35th in the World Championships before these Olympic Games, Joan-Benjamin Gaba was not really one of the favourites for an Olympic medal, especially within a French team that includes big names and avowed hopes of titles, from Luka Mkheidze (silver medallist in -60kg at the opening of these Olympic Games) to Teddy Riner for the men but also Clarisse Agbegnenou for the women. 

He will, however, bring one back, in gold or silver depending on the result of the final that awaits him after a run that has defied all predictions. Joan-Benjamin Gaba eliminated in the first round the reigning Olympic vice-champion and triple Olympic medalist, Georgian Lasha Shavdatuashvili, who went out following a 3rd penalty (shido). Having thus opened up the table, he then easily disposed of on the immobilization of the modest Tanzanian Andrew Thomas Mlugu, 101st in the world, to reach the quarter-finals and possibly play for a medal via the repechage table.

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There will be no repechage, however, since Gaba created the huge sensation of the day in his category against the Japanese Soishi Hashimoto! His modest senior record (a European bronze medal) was pitiful compared to the Japanese's five world medals, including a title. But Joan-Benjamin Gaba, without complexes, perfectly managed to outwit the Japanese favorite, particularly on the guard hold before winning in golden score on a new penalty for Hashimoto, disillusioned and short of solutions.

Same thing in the semi-final against another outsider of the tournament, the Moldovan Adil Osmanov 24 years old and recent winner of the Antalya Grand Slam. The match never really took place, the Frenchman quickly taking the upper hand before scoring on immobilization. If the count was not enough to put an end to the fight, the pocketed waza-ari validated the good start of the fight. It was just an appetizer before a textbook ippon to secure a place in the final.

How old is Joan-Benjamin Gaba ? His quick portrait before the Olympics

Joan-Benjamin Gaba, 23 years old only, is a member of the army in the French Navy and a resident of INSEP. He started judo at the age of six, enrolled by his parents who wanted to channel his boundless energy! He who shares on social networks the sounds created with his friends in Epinay-sur-Orge under the name of “Ezo” is therefore two fights away from Olympic gold, he who has gleaned his only individual senior medal at the 2024 European Championships before losing in the second round of the last World Championships.