Gambian judoka Faye Njie, representing his country at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, shared his profound disappointment and frustration after being eliminated from the competition.
The three-time Olympian, overpowered by a Spanish Judoka on Monday, July 29th, 2024, said he was well prepared for the fight, but the Spanish blocked his attempts with good gripping.
Faye, who received two cautions before being penalized for Non-Combativity, added that he was not under any special pressure. He said, “I have acknowledged that this is just one competition among others, and there is no need to put extra pressure on it.”
The Commonwealth silver medalist also said: “For now, I need to have some time to reflect on the plans for the future.”
Faye secured his Olympic qualification after securing a continental quota spot after collecting enough points.
Faye, the first Judoka to represent The Gambia at the Olympics level, suffered a major injury that forced him off the competition for more than four months during the qualification period. He will later return just a month before the decisive qualifying competition in Cairo.
Faye Njie was born in Helsinki, Finland, to a Finnish mother and a Gambian father and has represented both countries.
Before switching to fight for The Gambia, he represented Finland in the 2009 European Cadet Championships, the 2009 EYOF, and the 2011 and 2012 European Junior Championships.
Njie was the first-ever Olympic Judoka for the Gambia. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in the men’s 73 kg, where Didar Khamza eliminated him in the first round.
He competed in the men’s 73 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
He competed in the men’s 73 kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, winning the country’s first-ever silver medal. Njie was also a silver medalist at the 2015 African Games.
