Yeldos Smetov

Yeldos Smetov is a Kazakh judoka, born in 1992, who competes in the under 60 kg weight category. He won the Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, beating Luka Mkheidze in the final and becoming the first judoka from Kazakhstan and Central Asia to win Olympic gold. He had earlier taken silver at the 2016 Olympics and bronze at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, and won gold at the 2014 Asian Games, the 2015 World Championships and the 2016 Asian Championships. As a junior he won gold and bronze medals at the World Juniors Championships in 2010 and 2011.