Flying 14,000 kilometers, only to be eliminated in 5 seconds… This athlete becomes a hot topic at the Paris Olympics.

I flew 14,000 km and was eliminated in 5 seconds…

Paris Olympics: This athlete becomes a hot topic

With the significance of participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics, which opened on the 27th (Korean time),

The players who appeared are attracting attention as hot topics.

 

A representative example is Nera Tivwa, a judoka from the island nation of Kiribati in Oceania.

 

Tivwa, born in 2008, competed in the women's 57kg class judo event held in Paris, France on the 29th.

In the first round, she lost to Darya Bilodid (Ukraine) in one game.

 

The game was over within 5 seconds of starting.

 

The distance from Karibati to Paris, France is a whopping 14,000 km, and there are no direct flights.

It took almost two days to transfer planes and get to the Olympic Village.

He was eliminated from the match with Tiv just 5 seconds into the match.

 

 

The game was over in an instant

He had an unforgettable experience of a lifetime, marching into the opening ceremony as the flag bearer for the Kiribati team.

 

At 15 years old, he is the youngest judoka in this competition.

 

A similar story applies to Surinamese badminton player Soren Opti, who is competing in her second Olympics.

 

He made his Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

He faced then world number one Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) and was defeated 0-2 (2-21 3-21).

 

In this tournament, they also lost to China's Switch 0-2 (5-21 7-21).

 

Even in the second match of the group stage, against Giovanni Totti (Italy), he had to withdraw due to a knee injury.

 

Refugee team member Martin Balsini competed in the men's 200m butterfly but was eliminated in the preliminary round with a time of 2:00.73.

He ranks 27th out of 28 players.

 

Lee Sang-gyu's story