Moldovan Judoka Vieru Wins Olympic Bronze After Difficult Year

The question of whether it's better to fight for bronze after a semi-final loss, or with the momentum of a repechage win, was answered in the -66kg bronze medal contest at the Paris Olympics. Denis Vieru (MDA) faced Walide Khyar (FRA), who had lost in the quarter-finals to Gusman Kyrgyzbayev, while Vieru had been defeated by the eventual champion, ABE Hifumi (JPN).

Khyar, spurred on by the home crowd, dominated for most of the contest. However, in the final minute, Vieru came alive and secured the winning waza-ari with a deep osoto-gari, sending Khyar crashing to the mat.

It's been a challenging year for the Moldovan judoka, who had withdrawn from the Paris Grand Slam and competed in the -73kg category at the Tbilisi Grand Slam. Despite less than ideal preparations, Vieru fought his way to Olympic bronze, marking the seventh Olympic medal for Moldova across all sports.

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large">
<img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI2781-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-331873" srcset="https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI2781-300x200.jpg 300w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI2781-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI2781-768x512.jpg 768w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI2781-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI2781-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI2781-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI2781-1980x1320.jpg 1980w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI2781-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"/>
<figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The winning point. <span class="photographer">© Gabi Juan</span></figcaption>
</figure>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large">
<img decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI6324-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-331872" srcset="https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI6324-300x200.jpg 300w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI6324-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI6324-768x512.jpg 768w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI6324-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI6324-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI6324-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI6324-1980x1320.jpg 1980w, https://uploads.eju.net/2024/07/ABI6324-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"/>
<figcaption class="wp-element-caption">-66kg Paris 2024 Podium <span class="photographer">© Gabi Juan</span></figcaption>
</figure>

<h2 class="text-uppercase text-center mb-4">Judoka</h2>

<div class="row justify-content-center">
<div class="col-sm-6 col-md-3 mb-5 text-center">
<h5>Denis Vieru</h5>
<img src="https://78884ca60822a34fb0e6-082b8fd5551e97bc65e327988b444396.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/profiles/200/16235.jpg" class="img-fluid" alt=""/>
</div>
</div>

<p class="clearfix text-secondary mb-0">
<strong>Author: Thea Cowen</strong>
</p>

<hr class="mt-3 mb-4"/>

<p class="article-share d-flex flex-wrap justify-content-center">
<i class="fab fa-facebook-f"/><span>Share</span>
<a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/share?text=OLYMPIC+MEDAL+%237+FOR+MOLDOVA%C2%A0&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eju.net%2Folympic-medal-7-for-moldova%2F" class="social-twitter mx-1 mb-2"><i class="fab fa-twitter"/><span>Tweet</span></a>
<i class="fab fa-telegram"/><span>Telegram</span>
<i class="fab fa-whatsapp"/><span>WhatsApp</span>
<i class="fas fa-envelope"/><span>E-Mail</span></p>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>