From National Post, during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:
International tensions spilled into competition on Friday when an Egyptian judoka refused to shake his Israeli competitor’s hand following their bout at the Rio Olympics.
Or Sasson stepped forward to shake Islam El Shehaby’s hand after defeating the Egyptian fighter, but El Shehaby shook his head and backed away.
Judo fighters typically bow and shake hands before and after a bout. El Shahaby was called back to bow by the referee and gave a nod of his head.
El Shahaby was booed loudly by the Rio crowd.
The 32-year-old had reportedly faced pressure from some Islamist and nationalist Egyptians to withdraw from the match.
“My son watch out, don’t be fooled, or fool yourself thinking you will play with the Israeli athlete to defeat him and make Egypt happy,” Mataz Matar, a television host in the Al-Sharq Islamist-leaning network, said on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. “Egypt will cry; Egypt will be sad and you will be seen as a traitor and a normalizer in the eyes of your people.”