Toma Nikiforov
Toma Nikiforov (born January 25, 1993 in Etterbeek ) is a Belgian judoka . He was European champion in 2018.
Athletic career
Nikiforov won his first national youth title in 2007. In 2009 he was runner-up at the U17 European Championships and the U17 World Championships in the weight class up to 90 kilograms. Since 2010 he starts in the light heavyweight division, the weight class up to 100 kilograms. In this weight class, he won silver at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games . In 2011 he finished third at the U20 European Championships and seventh at the U20 World Championships. Silver followed in 2012 at the U20 European Championships. At the European Championships in 2013 , he finished seventh. In the same year he won bronze medals at the Junior European Championships and the Junior World Championships. In 2014 he reached fifth place at the European Championships.
In 2015, the European Championships were held as part of the European Games in Baku . Nikiforov lost to the Czech Lukáš Krpálek in the quarterfinals . With victories over the German Karl-Richard Frey and the Portuguese Jorge Fonseca, he won a bronze medal. At the World Championships in Astana he lost again in the quarterfinals against Krpálek. With victories over the Mongols Naidangiin Tüwschinbajar and against the French Cyrille Maret, Nikiforov also won a bronze medal here. Five weeks after the World Championships, Nikiforov won the World Military Games . In 2016, Nikiforov lost to the Dutchman Henk Grol in the final of the European Championships in Kazan . At the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro , he was eliminated in the round of 16 against the Georgian Beka Ghwiniaschwili .
After finishing seventh at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, Nikiforov took part in the Open Class World Championships in Marrakech in November 2017. After victories over the Russian Alexander Michailin in the quarter-finals and the Japanese Kokoro Kageura in the semi-finals, he was defeated in the final by the French Teddy Riner . At the 2018 European Championships in Tel Aviv , he met Cyrille Maret in the final and won his first major title.
Web links
- Tournament results at judoinside.com
- Toma Nikiforov in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
Footnotes
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Nikiforov, Toma |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian judoka |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 25, 1993 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Etterbeek |