Israeli judoka Sasson decides to retire

He won two Olympic bronze medals for Israel in judo, and medals of all colours at international tournaments, but Or Sasson has decided now is the right time to retire.

The 31-year-old said he felt his career had gone as far as it would, and he was “at one with my losses, and at one with my successes”.

“Judo is the sport that made me the man I am . . . and there is nothing I have done or not done that I regret,” he said.

Sasson won his first Olympic medal in the men’s over-100kg contest in Rio in 2016, and another in the teams event in Tokyo last year, although he missed out there on winning a medal in his individual event.

Sasson said that after the Tokyo Olympics, he found he no longer had “the fire and the drive” to continue competing.

Aside from his Olympics success, other major highlights in Sasson’s career include winning the Israeli national championships when he was just 17, and being a silver medalist at the 2015 and 2016 European championships.