Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei won a silver medal Friday at the Grand Slam international judo competition in Tel Aviv.

Mollaei, who competed as a citizen of Mongolia, the country that offered him refuge after he fled Iran after he was ordered to deliberately lose the semi-final at the 2019 World Championships, took second place in the under-81kg category.

“Israel has been very good to me since I arrived,” Mollaei said, as reported by CNN, citing comments by the International Judo Federation. “The Israeli judo team has been very kind. That is something I will never forget.”

צפו: אחרי שעלה לגמר הג'ודאי האירני סעיד מולאי הודה למצלמות – בעברית | כל העדכונים מהגראנד סלאם בתל אביב https://t.co/eAeAfmlQVW @GoldfriendBen @BenMittelman pic.twitter.com/u8nAsJ5k9n

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) February 19, 2021

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)