In the -100kg category, the current Olympic Champion, Zelym KOTSOIEV (AZE) added a third medal to Team Azerbaijan’s collection during the World Championships 2025 in Budapest.
I’m happy with the bronze medal, after the Olympics this in only my second competition and I’m finding it a little bit hard, my feeling hasn’t quite come back 100% but I’m very happy to be leaving with a medal.
It was a very tough day for Kotsoiev who was defeated in the quarter final by the 2023 World Champion and 2025 bronze medallist, Arman ADAMIAN (IJF), but now he seems in good spirits!
You know after I lost the quarter final, I went to the repechage without any feeling, I didn’t have any mood to fight, I was thinking ‘Shera, please, I want to go home!’ [he laighs] but when he threw me, wow I woke up, the feeling came back, I was down a waza ari and that was all the motivation I needed. I scored, we went in to golden score, we were both very tired I think but he made a little mistake and that’s judo.
How does an athlete come back through the repechage and find the motivation knowing it won’t be gold at the end of the day?
We have a very strong team of coaches, friends, my brother is here too, they motivated me for the bronze medal fight, telling me I am a warrior and that I must fight or I will go home without a medal. It’s important that we took these three medals, but our coaches work so hard, I think that these medals are not enough and they deserve more. There are big expectations after last year with two gold medals.
Of course, the red back patch is no more, but he will still be sporting his Olympic colours for the rest of the cycle, arguably an even bigger target for his opponents,
Everyone was fighting me like it was a final! I know it and feel it, but now I don’t have the red back patch any more, but still the gold so it’s okay. Now, I will go home for two weeks and be with my family with no judo! [he laughs].
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen