A judo coach fired up his black belt Olympian by violently shaking her and slapping her around the face

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A judo coach fired up his black belt Olympian by violently shaking her and slapping her around the face
Martyna Trajdos. Photo by Eurosport
  • A judo coach shook his Olympian and slapped her around the face to try and fire her up.
  • Martyna Trajdos went on to lose her 63-kilogram bout at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
  • She later joked that it must have been because she wasn't slapped hard enough.
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A judo coach tried to psyche up his black belt Olympian by shaking her by the lapel of her gi, and then slapping her around the face.

Though it may have raised eyebrows for people watching at home, the German 32-year-old Martyna Trajdos said it was nothing more than a pre-competition ritual.

She even joked that her coach probably didn't slap her hard enough because she failed to win her 63-kilogram match in the Round of 32 against Szofi Ozbas, of Hungary, at the 2020 Tokyo Games on Tuesday.

Ahead of the match, just before she walked on the mat, she halted her march and turned to Claudiu Pusa, her coach.

Pusa then violently shook Trajdos back-and-forth, open-palm struck her left cheek, and then did the same to her right cheek. Trajdos then nodded at Pusa and entered the combat arena.

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After the loss, Trajdos posted a message on her official Instagram account to alleviate the fear and anger on social media that Pusa had acted against her wishes.

She first joked: "Looks like this was not hard enough," in the statement.

"I wish I could have made a different headline today," she added. "As I already said, that's the ritual which I chose pre-competition! My coach is just doing what I want him to do to fire me up."

Trajdos is now out of the competition and Ozbas advanced to the Round of 16, where she fell to Maria Centracchio.

Clarisse Agbegnenou, of France, was the eventual gold medal winner. Tina Trstenjak, of Slovenia, won the silver.

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