PARIS, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The audience burst into thundering rounds of applause in the Champs-de-Mars arena of Paris after Ma Zhenzhao took bronze in the women's 78kg category on Monday, securing China's first judo Olympic medal since Rio 2016.
With tears streaming down her face, two-time Olympian Ma, who placed 17th at Tokyo, pointed at the national flag printed on her uniform. Then, she turned her back to the camera and proudly revealed the "CHN" insignia.
The Chinese judo team sent six female athletes to Paris, but Ma stood alone as the sole athlete to progress to the quarterfinals and ultimately graced the podium.
"I couldn't control my tears, and it's been such a tough journey. It was hard for Chinese judo athletes to win an Olympic medal in recent years, so I've been holding on this hope, determined to fight until the very last moment," Ma said.
"Last match today was the best match ever in my career. I was delighted to live up to everyone's expectations. I tried my best," she added.
Despite the enthusiasm of the audience, few may have known the story of the emotional 26-year-old Chinese.
Ranked fifth in the world, Ma entered the Games as a seeded athlete. After winning in the round of 16, she lost to Patricia Sampaio of Portugal in the quarterfinal, who had earlier beaten the Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Madeleine Malonga of France.
Monday afternoon matches saw Ma defeat Ukraine's Yelyzaveta Lytvynenko in a repechage and then win the bronze medal match against Germany's Anna-Maria Wagner with a waza-ari.
"For all the matches today, the last one was the most stressful. I fought through the earlier matches with gritted teeth, telling myself, 'You must keep going,'" said Ma.
"The last bout decided whether I would get a medal, so the pressure was even greater. Fortunately, I chose to be more determined and believed I could win," she added.
Ma is truly an athlete who excels under the pressure of major competitions. "I actually feel more motivated when I'm under pressure, and I get more excited in big competitions," she told Xinhua before the Olympics' kickoff.
Ma broke down in tears again when she saw several Chinese journalists waiting in the mixed zone on Monday. A silence fell over the crowd, when Ma took the moment to put herself together.
"At the Tokyo Olympics, I was inexperienced and nervous. But this time, it was different. I came here aiming for the gold. After losing the second match, I went all out for the bronze medal. Now I have better control on the mat, and I feel I am stronger," said Ma.
Starting judo training at nine, Ma's journey to an Olympic medal seems like a deserved reward and the best validation of her 16 years of effort.
"My early career was fraught with setbacks and defeats. However, I gradually learned to find my strengths from the matches I won and to improve myself from failures. I'm still growing," she said.
