Kenya’s hopes for a medal in judo at the 2024 Paris Olympics were dashed after Judoka queen Zeddy Cherotich, the first Kenyan woman to compete in the sport at the Olympics, was knocked out 20 seconds into her match with Portugal’s Patricia Sampaio.

Sampaio scored a Waza-ari with a Sode-tsurikomi-goshi after nine seconds and secured the win with an ippon in the 20th second. Cheruyiot did not have an opportunity to make contact with her opponent.

The 25-year-old Sampaio, ranked 13th in the world, is competing in her second Olympic Games after her debut in Tokyo 2020. She swiftly defeated Cheruyiot, ranked 74th in the world, with a combination of waza-ari and immobilization (ippon).

Cheruyiot, a native of Kericho, will now return to Kenya after her short stint in Paris, which continues Kenya’s poor performance at the Olympics in sports other than athletics.

So far, Kenya Sevens finished ninth in rugby sevens, and Alexandra Ndolo was knocked out in the first round of fencing. The Malkia Strikers are also on the brink of elimination after losing back-to-back group stage matches in women’s volleyball.

Kenya has ended day six of the competition medal-less, and now the hope lies in athletics, which kick off tomorrow with Round One in the men’s 1500m race, women’s 5000m, mixed 4x400m relay, women’s 800m, and the men’s 10,000m final.

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