Rutovic Takes Judo Worlds Bronze, Majdov Cries Foul
Boris Rutovic gave Serbia its third medal at the Judo World Championships, while Nemanja Majdov, fifth in the same category, says the referees missed his throw.
A third penalty (shido) for France’s Maxime-Gael Ngayap Hambou decided the bronze medal bout in the under-90 kilogram category in Baku, and Boris Rutovic left the mat on Thursday, October 8, with his first medal from the Judo World Championships. A day later Nemanja Majdov, who finished without a medal in the same category, spoke out and publicly claims he was robbed.
How did Rutovic reach bronze at the Judo World Championships?
It is Serbia’s third medal in Baku. Marica Perisic won bronze at 57 kilograms on Tuesday, Mihajlo Simin took bronze at 81 kilograms on Wednesday, as we reported, and Rutovic completed the set on Thursday at 90 kilograms.
His run began with a win over Russia’s Egor Andoni, followed by Georgia’s Luka Maisuradze, a two-time European champion and former world gold medalist. In the round of 16 Rutovic beat Moldova’s Mihail Latisev, and after that the accounts of his path diverge.
RTS reports that he lost to Japan’s Tajima, the world runner-up, in the quarterfinal in the final seconds, then came back through the repechage: after a turnaround he beat France’s Alex Mitrovic and earned the bronze medal bout. Telegraf writes the reverse, that he beat Tajima and lost to Mitrovic. In the same article Telegraf also says Tajima fought in the final, which matches the RTS version.
In the bronze medal bout Rutovic beat Hambou, who picked up three shidos.
How did Majdov fare in the same category?
Majdov, the European runner-up, finished fifth. He beat Britain’s Murhed and Bulgaria’s Ivaylo Ivanov, then lost the quarterfinal to Japan’s Sanshiro Murao, the reigning world champion and Olympic runner-up. Murao went on to win gold, beating his countryman Tajima in the final.
In the repechage Majdov defeated Uzbekistan’s Nurbek Murtozoev, but he lost the bronze medal bout to home-mat competitor Murad Fatiyev of Azerbaijan. It was Fatiyev’s third win in three meetings with Majdov.
What did Majdov write after the bronze medal bout?
On October 9, Majdov posted on Instagram and described the bout with Fatiyev like this:
“I had a clean throw that the whole planet saw, and they closed their eyes to it. I won’t even mention the penalties, which were obvious and textbook, but those I can forgive given the home-mat conditions, but if I throw you in front of everyone, don’t do that.”
He sees the consequences going beyond the standings. Later in the post Majdov writes:
“I am directly left without my fourth world medal, which I deserved yesterday and then some, and I am also left without big bonuses, on which all of us, at the end of the day, honorably and honestly feed our families.”
He also described his day in Baku in numbers: he won his first bout against Murhed by ippon in 15 seconds, and two more bouts by ippon. He lost to Murao by waza-ari in the final seconds. “A bitter taste, but I am more than satisfied with how I showed up and defended the colors of my country at the planetary showcase,” he said.
This is not Majdov’s first bitter experience with officiating. At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris he was eliminated in the round of 16 of the under-90 kilogram category, disqualified against Greece’s Theodoros Tselidis after three warnings (shido) for alleged passivity.
What about Aleksandra Andric?
Aleksandra Andric also finished fifth, at 70 kilograms. She beat China’s Liu, America’s Gariga, Germany’s Miriam Butkereit and Brazil’s Silva in turn. In the semifinal she lost in golden score to Spain’s Ai Cunode Rustant, and in the bronze medal bout to Russia’s Madina Taymazova.
Serbia so far takes three bronze medals home from Baku: Perisic, Simin and Rutovic. Two fifth places, Majdov’s and Andric’s, ended just below the podium.
