With sabre in hand

Sheer rage at the referee: “She killed me!”

Sandro Bazadze

(Bild: AFP)

What a scandal in the fencing tournament at the Olympic Games: With his sabre still in his hand, Georgian Sandro Bazadze threw a violent tantrum including a screaming attack against the referee and caused a stir! She "killed" him with a wrong decision that cost him victory against Egyptian Mohamed Amer, said Bazadze about the official Vanesa Chichon ...

With the score at 14:14 in the round of 16 duel between the Georgian and the Egyptian, it was clear that the next point would be decisive - and as both fencers appeared to land a hit at the same time, the referee had to check the video sequences. When the Spaniard declared the Egyptian Amer the winner, there was no stopping Bazadze.

"No, no, no, what are you doing?" 
Stunned, he gesticulated and shouted angrily in the direction of Chichon, threatening with his index finger and still holding his sabre in his hand. "Check, check!" the Georgian demanded angrily, "no, no, no, what are you doing?" However, there was no further check and the referee left the arena soon after her final decision - much to Bazadze's annoyance.

"Where is the fairness?"
"When I asked her for an explanation, she turned around and left," said the Georgian, who felt disadvantaged just like three years ago. "Where is the fairness? [...] For the second time already, like in Tokyo, the referees are killing me." His life had already been destroyed back then and he had almost ended his career, but he "came back, became world number one, prepared for the Olympic Games - "and it killed me".