The 18-year-old judo talent lost a tough semifinal against Japanese Natsumi Tsunoda – who later took the Olympic Games gold – in the 48-kilo class. The loss in overtime came after Tara Babulfath received her third warning in the match.
The Swede did not want to accept the verdict and argued with the Australian referee Lubovir Petr for a long time before leaving the mat.
Later, the Swede won the bronze – Sweden's first Olympic medal in judo – and was not punished for her behavior during the tournament in Paris. However, the International Judo Federation has now decided to suspend the 18-year-old for three months.
Judo is the best I know and going abroad to camps and competing is something I live for, she says to SVT.
However, she will be allowed to keep her bronze medal and her place on the world ranking. According to SVT, the federation has taken into account that Babulfath was not aggressive in her protest, but emphasizes that it is serious that it happened on such a big arena as the Olympic Games.
I think I would have had a hard time moving on if I hadn't made the protest I did. But it's nothing I'll do again in the future and I've learned the hard way.
The suspension applies between July 30 and October 31.
