Great Britain's Winston Gordon (blue) during his defeat and final fight, beaten by Russia's Kirill Denisov at the ExCel Arena, London.

Gordon praises crowd but disappointed with early Olympic exit

Team GB judoka Winston Gordon was disappointed his game plan didn’t work out as he tasted a second round defeat in the ExCeL Arena today.

The 36-year-old from Tooting, who finished fifth at Athens 2004, dispatched Canadian Alexandre Emond with a win by way of ippon in his opening bout.

In the second round he lined up against Russia’s two-time world silver medallist Kiril Denisov, who caught Gordon with a yuko on the edge of the area to end his dream of Olympic glory.

“As you could see, it was tough out there,” said three-time Olympian Gordon.

“It all went a little bit awkward on my game plan. It was going OK until he had a lucky counter and then he held on to it.”

“The crowd were great but my family, my friends, my coach, especially my coach, they all worked hard to get me here. It was my opponent’s day today, and I’ll have to move on. All the people coming to support us helped to push us on.”

Team GB’s judoka continue their quest for a medal at the Excel Arena on Thursday as Gemma Gibbons takes to the -78kg category.