Smetov started with two confident wins in the opening rounds and then defeated world number one Yung Wei Kang of Chinese Taipei. In the semi-final, Smetov met 2023 World Champion Francisco Garrigos from Spain. The Kazakh won with a waza-ari on golden score to advance to the final and claim his third Olympic medal. 

The final between Luka Mkheidze of France and Smetov started with attacks from Mkheidze, who was cheered by the crowd. Smetov received two shidos in the first three minutes of the bout but managed to score a waza-ari with one minute left on the clock. He controlled the rest of the bout to win his third Olympic medal and first gold. France, like Japan, won two medals on the opening day of judo but will have to wait for their first gold.

Victory belongs to Kazakhstan! 🇰🇿

Congratulations to Yeldos Smetov, claiming first place in judo men's 60kg!@olympic_kz | @judo | #Judo#Paris2024 | #Samsung | #TogetherforTomorrow pic.twitter.com/lbD78YsPaZ

— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 27, 2024

In the women's -48kg category, three-time world champion Natsumi Tsunoda of Japan finally claimed her first Olympic gold. Tsunoda, who had eliminated crowd favourite Shirine Boukly in the preliminary round, faced teenage sensation Tara Babulfath in the semi-final. 

The semi-final was intense, and the two judokas went to the golden score with two warnings each. In the second minute of the golden score, Babulfath received another shido. Despite her fierce protests and the whistling of the crowd, Tsunoda won the bout by shido to advance to the final.

On the other side of the bracket, 2024 World Champion Baasankhuu Bavuudorj of Mongolia looked overconfident in the elimination round. She won four matches to reach the final, where she met Tsunoda. In a battle of the two world champions of the past four years, Tsunoda defeated Bavuudorj with a waza-ari to win her first Olympic title at the age of 31. 

Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Funa Tonaki retired after the Olympic Games, and Tsunoda emerged as the number one in the Japanese national team. Since then, Tsunoda has won every competition she has entered, and now she has won Olympic gold.

Other notable performances

Teenage sensation Tara Babulfath burst onto the senior stage in 2024, winning the IJF Baku Grand Slam in her first senior tournament. She went on to win a bronze medal at the 2024 World Championships. 

The 18-year-old Swedish judoka continued her amazing journey in Paris with two strong wins in the women's -48kg category against Korea's Hyekeong Lee and world number one Assunta Scutto of Italy on the opening day of the judo competition. 

Babulfath avenged Scutto's defeat in the semi-finals of the 2024 World Championships. In the bronze medal match, Babulfath ended her Olympic debut with a beautiful victory over Kazakhstan's Abuba Abuzhakynova to claim the second bronze medal. Boukly won the other bronze medal bout against Spain's Laura Martinez Abelenda.

In the men's -60kg category, Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Luka Mkheidze of France was in action. Cheered on by the crowd at the Champ-de-Mars Arena, Mkheidze advanced to the semi-finals with a win over Korea's Kim Won Jin. He was up against tournament sensation Salih Yildiz, who had defeated 2024 World Champion Giorgi Sardalashvili of Georgia. 

Mkheidze won the semi-final with a waza-ari in the sixth minute. The bronze medals went to Fransisco Garrigos and Japan's Ryuju Nagayama. Garrigos defeated Sardalashvili, and Nagayama won his bout against Wei Kang.

The second day of the competition will see action in the men's -66kg and women's -52kg categories.