PARIS (AP) — Luka Mkheidze and Shirine Boukli won France's first two medals of the Paris Olympics in judo on Saturday night, with Mkheidze claiming silver and Boukli winning bronze. Mkheidze lost 1-0 to Yeldos Smetov of Kazakhstan in the final of the men's 60-kilogram division, disappointing a raucous crowd at Champ-de-Mars Arena . The No.
3-seeded Mkheidze made an impressive rally through the bracket in the lightest men's weight class, but he couldn't score against Smetov, who became the first Kazakh gold medal-winning judoka after taking home silver and bronze from the two previous Olympics. About 30 minutes before Mkheidze's loss, Boukli claimed France's first medal of its home Olympics with a victory over Spain's Laura Martinez in a bronze-medal match. The powerful French judo team — which includes Olympic cauldron-lighting heavyweight Teddy Riner — is off to a strong start.
“It was magical, it was incredible," Boukli said. "It is a great crowd that spreads positive vibes. It makes me want to roll over anything.
I feel like this is historic.” The 28-year-old Mkheidze was born in Georgia, and he came to France as a teenager in 2010. He quickly rose to prominence in judo, winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and he won a gold medal at last year's European Judo Championships.
The Paris crowd was vocal in support of its two judokas, who provided one of the early signature moments of these Games even before their medal triumphs. During the morning se.