“You’ll Never Set Foot in Japan Again” | Relief

“You will never set foot in Japan again.” It was one of the first messages he read. Fran Garrigos as soon as he left the tatami after reaching the semi-finals of the 60 kg judo at the Paris Olympics. The end of his fight against Japan’s Nagayama irritated the Asian country’s delegation, as well as Japan, the clear dominant force in the discipline.

The Madrid fighter achieved checkmate in a spectacular floor exercise that ended the fight and left the Japanese fighter on the verge of losing consciousness. According to the Japanese delegation, despite the fact that the referee had already completed the technique, the Spaniard continued to perform the choke for several more seconds.Something didn’t please the judoka himself, which is why he decided not to shake Garrigos’ hand and not to acknowledge his victory.

Nagayama’s gesture was only the beginning of the Japanese reaction. Messages in Garrigos’ latest photos on his social media, personal messages and even emails. in his personal email began to reach the Spaniard’s mobile phone. As Relevo learned, one of the most serious threats came via email with a series of attacks on him and threats to never let him set foot in the country again: “You will not be welcomed in JapanThe notifications on his mobile phone contain other attacks such as “they should try you for attempted murder,” “never step foot on the mat again” or “what a shame, they should never let you do judo again.”

Despite the harshness of the messages at such a tense moment as the day in which three years’ work was being played out, the Spaniard remained calm and was confident that he had done nothing wrong in the fight and had no bad intentions.