Looking Back At Judo Champion Mohamed Ali Rashwan’s Iconic Olympic Gesture in 1984
The sporting world isn’t just about competing and winning; it’s much deeper than that. Among athletes, there’s a special code, one of fair play, integrity, and respect. Egyptian judo player Mohamed Ali Rashwan exemplified that spirit.
Meet Mohamed Ali Rashwan
In the past, he was a judo champion. Today, Rashwan is an International Referee present in most International Judo Federation (IJF) competitions. He is also an entrepreneur who runs several restaurants in Alexandria. Yet, that’s not our story today. Rather, our story took place a couple of years back, 39 years ago, to be exact.
A Surprising Act Of Kindness
Back in the 1984 Summer Olympics, an Egyptian judoka managed to take home something far more valuable than gold. Rashwan traveled all the way to Los Angeles to compete, and throughout the competition, he said that his “only fear was to lose.”
In that very competition, he was going to face Japan’s Yasuhiro Yamashita, a four-time world champion and one of the sport’s all-time greats. The surprise, though, was that Yamashita had severely injured his right calf during the early stages of the competition, limping his way to try to achieve golden glory.
This was an opportunity for the 28-year-old judo player to finally become an Olympian champion, yet, Rashwan saw it differently. Even though everyone advised the player to attack Yamashita’s injured right leg, Rashwan refused, which ended up costing him the gold medal.
Despite the loss, when asking Rashwan if there were any regrets, his response continues to show his inner spirit of kindness and respect, “No, I don’t regret anything… Because what I got in return is far greater than the gold medal.”
He may not have won gold, but he did bag many other awards. He won an International Fair Play Committee award, a United Nations Fair Play award, and two Fair Play awards from the Egyptian president himself.
That story deserves the limelight today, serving as a powerful example of integrity and respect, and highlighting that winning a gold medal isn’t the be-all and end-all for athletes in the sporting world.
