Moldovan judoka Sergiu Toma medaled bronze at the Rio Olympics in the 81 kg class. The 29-year-old sportsman from Chisinau won the medal for the United Arab Emirates that he has represented since 2013, IPN reports.
At the previous two editions of the Olympic Games, Toma represented the Republic of Moldova and four years ago was among the top 10 judokas. This year the Olympic squad of the United Arab Emirates included three Moldovan judo players: Sergiu Toma, Ivan Remarenco and Victor Scvortsov.
In the struggle for the bronze medal, Sergiu Toma fought Italy’s Matteo Marconcini, who eliminated Moldova’s Valeriu Duminica in the 1/16 finals. Toma beat Marconcini by scoring an ippon in the middle of the normal period. Toma could compete for gold too, but he lost in the semifinals to Russia’s Khasan Khalmurzaev, who later became champion.
Valeriu Duminica, who defeated Montenegro’s Srdan Mrvaljevic in the first round, remained very dissatisfied after the match against Matteo Marconcini. ”The referees stole my Olympic dream. Even if I was injured, I think I showed a good play,” he stated for IPN.
