Judo's Olympic drought is over.
It was a bronze with a taste of more.
Super talent Tara Babulfath, 18, secured Sweden's first Olympic medal in Paris.
I'm overjoyed, says the bronze medalist.
She was bold before the games. But it wasn't just talk from a feisty 18-year-old Olympic debutant.
The bronze in the 48-kilo class gave Sweden a strong start to the Olympics in Paris.
And the sport of judo finally got its first Swedish Olympic medalist.
It's completely crazy, I'm super happy, it's indescribable, says Tara Babulfath.
When Kazakh Abiba Abuzjakynova gave up the bronze match by tapping out of the Swedish grip with 40 seconds left, the Swede collapsed on the mat and hid her overjoyed face in her hands.
I didn't understand at first. I looked around everywhere, "have I won, has he really said ippon, is it clear?". And then when I understood it, so ... no, it's indescribable.
Wanted to hug everyone
After thanking her opponent, referees, and the audience – as befits a judoka – she jumped off the mat to hug the whole world, it felt like.
She started with mom Ida, who has taken several World Championship medals in wrestling, continued with sister Hanna, and then jumped into the arms of dad Mohammad, himself an Olympic wrestler for Sweden 20 years ago.
She even managed to hug team manager Peter Reinebo and some of the press officials before disappearing for a mandatory doping test.
Maybe she should have even gotten to fight for the gold medal. She lost a tough semifinal against Japanese Natsumi Tsunoda – who later took the gold – in overtime, so-called "Golden Score", after being given her third warning for allegedly pulling her arm out without having a grip.
Babulfath didn't want to accept the verdict, and neither did large parts of the audience. Australian referee Lubovir Petr met a loud chorus of boos in the Arena Champ de Mars.
The Swede argued with Petr for a long time, gesturing that she wanted a video review, but eventually gave up. Just over an hour later, she had put aside her disappointment and secured the bronze.
I didn't understand what happened, to be honest. It was just about reloading, I took home the bronze and I'm going to celebrate it. I'm going to be proud of myself.
Pessimism after Tokyo
It otherwise looked bleak for Swedish judo after the Olympics in Tokyo 2021. When the last two Swedish medal hopes were eliminated without being close to the podium, then-national team manager Robert Eriksson concluded resignedly:
It was now or never. If we didn't succeed here, then I don't know if we'll ever do it.
But the future was already there in the background. A couple of weeks later, the cadet European Championship (U18 European Championship) was held in Latvia. There, a then 15-year-old girl from Tyresö became the first Swedish finalist in such a European Championship since 2008.
Three years later, she has outgrown the cadet uniform, but continues to write judo history.
Born: January 3, 2006 (18 years old), in Stockholm.
Sport: Judo.
Weight class: 48 kilos.
Club: Stockholm Judo Club.
Achievements: Olympic bronze 2024, World Championship bronze 2024, U18 World Championship silver 2022, U18 World Championship bronze 2023, one victory on the World Tour (Baku, 2024)
