Israeli judokas Timna Nelson-Levy, Tohar Butbul end individual Olympic runs in Paris with match losses

Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel

Azerbaijan's Hidayat Heydarov and Israel's Tohar Butbul (blue) compete in the judo men's -73kg round of 16 round bout of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Champ-de-Mars Arena, in Paris, July 29, 2024. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
Azerbaijan's Hidayat Heydarov and Israel's Tohar Butbul (blue) compete in the judo men's -73kg round of 16 round bout of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Champ-de-Mars Arena, in Paris, July 29, 2024. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

Israeli judokas Timna Nelson-Levy and Tohar Butbul both end their individual Olympic runs at the 2024 Paris Games with match losses.

Nelson-Levy loses to South Korea’s Huh Mi-mi, who is ranked third in the world in the under-57kg weight class. Earlier, Nelson-Levy beat Slovenia’s Kaja Kajzer in her initial match.

A tearful Nelson-Levy tells the Sport5 channel, “I put my heart on the mat today, sadly it wasn’t enough.” She says, “I guess today wasn’t my day, even though I went in feeling great… I prepared my whole life for this moment, and this is it. It will take me time to let it sink in.”

Butbul loses to Azerbaijan’s Hidayat Heydarov, the top-ranked judoka in the world under-73kg weight class. Butbul was supposed to first face Algeria’s Messaoud Dris, but Dris disqualified himself from the competition by showing up over 73kg to the weigh-in last night rather than face the Israeli judoka.

Butbul and Nelson-Levy are both likely to compete in the judo mixed team event on Saturday.

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