 Fallon made up for a poor Athens Olympics |
Great Britain's Craig Fallon reigned supreme in the 60kg weight class at the World Judo Championships in Cairo. Fallon beat Salam Utarbayev by koka to reach the final and then got the better of Austrian Ludwig Paischer by yuko.
Britain had hopes of double gold with Karina Bryant making it through to the women's Open final.
But they were dashed by Japan's Midori Shintani, who secured an ippon victory as Bryant was forced to settle for her second silver medal of the games.
With his victory, the 23-year-old Fallon became only the third British male to win a world title, following in the footsteps of Neil Adams in 1981 and Graeme Randall in 1999.
Colin McIver, GB performance director, said: "Craig Fallon has become our first world champion in six years and has achieved what only two British men have accomplished before him.
"This is an outstanding result, a title that proves his talent, and comes after a great deal of hard work. We will see a lot more things in the future from this exceptionally talented young athlete.
"In addition, Karina Bryant has yet again delivered on a world stage, winning two silver medals. She is undoubtedly one of the top heavy weight female judo players in the world."
MMIX
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