Gennaro Pirelli Holds His Nerve to Take -100 kg Gold After a Chaotic Draw

Gennaro Pirelli was the athlete who stayed standing at the end of a wild -100 kg judo contest. In a division where the favourites kept falling and the draw kept changing shape, the Italian fought through the disorder and left with gold.

The surprises started immediately. Top seed Anton Savytskiy of Ukraine was knocked out in his opening contest, a result that set the tone for an unusually open category. From that point on, almost every round brought another shift.

Olympic silver medallist Ilia Sulamanidze of Georgia looked sharp in the early stages, but his run ended in the quarter-final against 2023 world champion Arman Adamian of Russia. Even that result did not hold for long. Adamian then saw his own campaign stopped in the semi-final by Pirelli, who arrived as a dangerous outsider despite already winning the European title in Georgia in April.

That European success had already pushed Pirelli firmly into the elite conversation, but this field still seemed ready to produce a different winner. Olympic champion Zelym Kotsoiev of Azerbaijan remained in the mix deep into the day, while Simeon Catharina of the Netherlands was another name still in contention after a series of strong World Judo Tour performances.

Pirelli turned an unpredictable day into a defining win.

The lower half of the draw became just as difficult to read. Ryotaro Masuchi of Japan upset expectations for several rounds, then Dzhafar Kostoev of the UAE looked ready to take over. Instead, it was Idar Bifov of Russia, winner of the Tbilisi Grand Slam earlier this year, who broke through and claimed the second place in the final.

That left an unexpected gold-medal contest between Pirelli and Bifov. It was not a final built on big attacks or clear separation. It was tense, tactical and increasingly heavy with pressure. Neither judoka could create the decisive advantage in normal time, and both had already collected two penalties before the match moved into golden score.

More than three extra minutes passed with the title still undecided. Then the final turned on discipline rather than a scoring technique. Bifov received his third penalty, and Pirelli was awarded the win. It was a memorable gold in a category that had punished hesitation all day.

Afterward, Pirelli said the result came from long-term work, but he also pointed to a mental change after the disappointment of finishing fifth in the Paris Olympic mixed team event. He explained that he had since put greater focus on mental strength, calling it even more important than physical preparation.

He also looked ahead carefully. Pirelli said his next step will be the Lima Grand Prix in August, followed by preparation with his coaches for major events including the Baku World Championships. He added that the Italian mixed team already owns a European silver and a world bronze, and that both team and individual goals remain very much alive.

The bronze medals went to Ilia Sulamanidze and Zelym Kotsoiev. Neither bronze medal contest was fought because one judoka in each pairing was unable to compete.

In the end, this was a day of broken predictions and rising tension, and Pirelli handled it better than anyone else. In one of the most unstable categories of the event, he found the control that mattered most.

Source: IJF.org

Image source: IJF / International Judo Federation