PARIS — Every judoka deals with injury — it’s part of the grappling game — but Canada’s Shady Elnahas nevertheless stuck out like a sore thumb on Thursday.
Ranked third in the world in the under-100kg weight class, the 26-year-old from Toronto was one-and-done in the Olympic tournament at Champ-de-Mars Arena, upset by 14th-ranked Daniel Eich of Switzerland in the round of 16.
Elnahas broke his left thumb in two places in pre-Games training and had surgery to repair the digit just four days before leaving Montreal for Paris on July 23. The stitches came out Wednesday night and his hand was heavily bandaged for the match.
Even so, Elnahas said he never considered withdrawing from the tournament at any point, and he wasn’t about to use the injury as an excuse on Thursday. But it appears to have been an issue since it hampered his ability to train and stay sharp. He was sluggish, to say the least.
“I haven’t really done judo until now,” he said in French in the mixed zone. “It hurts a little, but I was able to fight. It wasn’t ideal for me, but at the same time, I knew I could fight and win a medal. But it’s judo, it’s life, I think.
“Honestly, I’ve beaten him before, so I knew what to do. It’s just I couldn’t perform it for some reason. My body was not feeling the way I was hoping. I was slow. I didn’t feel that strong. It’s just one of those days that you just don’t feel good. And I tried to convince myself that I’ll be good. That happened before, and I was able to force myself to win a medal. But this time, I came up short.”
Elnahas won a silver medal at the 2024 world championships, finished fifth in 2021 and 2023, and was fifth at the Tokyo Olympics, in his Games debut. He had also beaten Eich in their only previous match in a 2023 Grand Slam tournament in Tokyo.
But that’s sport. Eich won the match 1-0 by Waza-ari on Thursday, just 34 seconds into Golden Score or extra time, with a clever reversal move. The point for Waza-ari is awarded when a judoka throws an opponent with control and accuracy or holds the opponent on his back on the mat for 15 to 20 seconds.
Elnahas thought he would have the upper hand in extra time, since he thought his opponent was showing more signs of fatigue.
“He’s a heavy dude, so it was hard to move him around, and he was just waiting to counter me whenever I attacked, so I was trying to be more safe,” said Elnahas. “And then when the (Golden Score) came, I was like, ‘OK, he’s definitely more tired than me. Let me go for a big throw.’ And then it backfired.
“I went for an attack. I initiated the exchange. And he was just bent backwards, waiting for me to go in so he can take me back. I thought I could move him and force my move on him, but it kind of went the other way and my body just flew a little bit backwards, and I had no control.”
Just like that, three years of preparation and all the stress of qualification added up to a first fight loss at the Olympics. It happened to fellow Canadian judoka Kelly Deguchi here as well in the women’s under-52kg class.
Elnahas thinks he has it in him to go through all of it again in another Olympic quadrennial, but the emotions are still raw.
“Honestly, I have no idea what to feel and what to think. I’m just going to spend time with my family and my girlfriend and then we’re going to think about my short day.”