Judoka Mouloud Noura wants the gold back to Algeria

Algeria’s Mouloud Noura wants to take the gold again in Rio in his weight class until 60kg. Noura, who won bronze at London 2012, will be hoping to repeat his gold medal glory from Beijing 2008. Standing in his way are Uzbekistan’s World No.1 Sherzod Namazov and Azerbaijan’s reigning Paralympic champion Ramin Ibrahimov.

In 2015 Noura won the IBSA World Games in Seoul. Noura won gold at the IBSA World Championships 2014 in Colorado U60kg. He is now World ranking #2 and seeded second at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio. His first round was a bye.

The men’s up to 66kg judokas also go head-to-head on day one of competition, with Azerbaijan’s Bayram Mustafayev the favourite for gold. His main rival for a first Paralympic title is Ukraine’s David Khorava.

Mustafayev beat Khorava in the final at November’s European Championships in Odivelas, Portugal, proving he has what it takes to overcome his rival.

However, Khorava has shown he can handle the pressure on even the biggest occasions. He won the gold medal at London 2012 and will be determined to add another to his collection in Rio. In 2015 he won silver at the IBSA European Championships in Lisbon. In 2015 he won bronze at the IBSA World Games in Seoul and bronze at the IBSA World Cup Eger in 2015. He won the Visual Impaired German Open in Heidelberg in 2016. World ranking #2 and seeded second at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio.