RIO DE JANEIRO - Beslan Mudranov won Russia's first gold medal of the Rio Olympics in the judo competition on Saturday after their team was slashed over a massive doping conspiracy. The International Judo Federation (IJF) had been outspoken in backing Russian athletes' right to compete in Rio after calls for a blanket ban over the discovery of a state-sponsored doping plot. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed Russia to compete in Rio but they have their smallest team in more than a century after several sporting federations barred athletes over the doping scandal. Russia's Beslan Mudranov (white) celebrates after defeating Kazakhstan's Yeldos Smetov during the men's -60kg judo gold medal match on August 6, 2016Mudranov won the men's 60kg final with a golden score victory over Kazakhstan's Yeldos Smetov, putting Russia's reduced team on the medals table on day one. Mudranov, ranked 16 in the world, won by waza-ari 44 seconds into the golden score period after neither man was able to score any points in the regular period.

Source: Bangkok Post August 06, 2016 21:45 UTC