Disappointment for judoka Helios Latchoumanaya, double reigning world champion, who had to settle for the silver medal

Beaten by the Ukrainian Oleksandr Nazarenko in the final, the French judoka failed to win his first Paralympic title on Saturday.

A metal with a very bitter taste. The big favourite, the parajudo player Helios Latchoumanaya, had to settle for a silver medal on Saturday 7 September, after a final lost to the Ukrainian Oleksandr Nazarenko in the under 90 kg category (J2 category, visually impaired athletes). World number 1 and reigning double world champion, the Tarbois with the tricolour dreadlocks thus did better than the bronze from Tokyo but left disappointed with these Paris Games, when he was only aiming for gold.

Despite a timid start in the quarter-finals against Georgian Lasha Kizilashvili, where a simple waza-ari placed 16 seconds from the end of the fight was enough, the judoka of Guadeloupean origin then impressed in the semi-finals. A perfect ippon to tip Brazilian Marcelo overboard Casanova allowed him to open the doors to this unfortunate final. While the French parajudo has not won a title since Rio, this result could also be detrimental to the entire delegation in the race for the top 8 of the overall ranking since Ukraine has made the break.