Gold in judo hopes to inspire Russia for more Olympic glory

The success of Russian judo team must become a spring board for the country’s athletes still at the London Games believes Olympic champion, Tagir Khaibulaev.

The triumphant Russian judokas who won three golds, a silver, and a bronze in London have been greeted by their Moscow fans on their return from the British capital. “It's a historical achievement for Russian Judo. There's no doubt about it,” Tagir Khaibulaev, 2012 judo Olympic champion, told RT. “We are very proud to be the first athletes to win these medals at the Olympics. And hopefully it may help our team mates do better in other sports.”The country’s judo athletes have made the Olympic podium for the first time since the 1980 Moscow Games. Tagir Khaibulaev, Mansur Isaev and Arsen Galstyan all came away from the games with gold medals. “For me personally, the success of our Judo team means a lot,” Isaev stressed. “Especially, in terms of bringing this sport to the masses. I really, really hope that after these Olympic Games many kids in Russia will start practicing judo.”Russia currently sits ninth in the in the medal table at the London Olympics, with 35 medals (4 gold, 16 silver and 15 bronze).