Israel’s Or Sasson won a bronze medal in judo Friday at the Rio Olympics, hours after being snubbed by an Egyptian opponent who refused to shake his hand after their match.
Sasson, 25, defeated Cuba’s Alex Maxell Garcia Mendoza in the bronze-medal match in the over 100-kg category.
It was the second medal for Israel at the Rio Games, following a bronze for Yarden Gerbi, 27, in the women’s 63-kg judo competition earlier this week.
Sasson won against Egypt’s Islam El Shehaby in the opening round of the competition Friday, and then reached the semifinals by defeating Maciej Sarnacki of Poland in the round of 16 and Roy Meyer of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. He lost to eventual gold medalist Teddy Riner of France in the semifinals.
El Shehaby was jeered by fans when he gave Sasson a quick nod instead of the traditional post-match bow and then backed away when Sasson extended his hand, leaving the Israeli standing alone with his arm out.
“I knew to put that incident aside,” Sasson told reporters later, after winning his medal. “Politics doesn’t matter when I’m on the mat.”