Olympic judo: Mongolian fought in the final despite cruciate injury

• Tuvshinbayar Naidan was injured in semi-final fight
• Naidan now in a wheelchair and may have to retire

Tuvshinbayar Naidan, the Mongolian judoka who won silver in the men's heavyweight competition last Thursday, competed in the final having torn his anterior cruciate ligament in the semi-final and the 26-year-old may now be forced to retire.

Naidan, the 2008 Olympic champion, had been "screaming in pain" following the injury and officials at the ExCeL's centre were preparing for the final to be called off before the judoka confirmed he would defend his title against Russia's Tagir Khaibulaev.

Following his win over South Korea's Hwang Hee-tae in the 100kg semi-final Naidan's distress meant he failed to recognise his father and he had to be carried away on the back of his coach. He flew back to Mongolia on Monday morning and will be in a wheelchair for two months. The injury is among the most serious an athlete can suffer.

Khosbayar Bat-Erdene, the Mongolia press attaché, told the Guardian: "Tuvshinbayar Naidan's was a very bad injury and he had to seriously consider whether he would fight on in the final. He tore the anterior cruciate in his left knee. He decided to fight the final because he thought it might be the only chance he would have to defend his Olympic title.

"Previously, he had a similar injury to his other knee, the right one, after the Beijing Games and was out for two years – he needed surgery in the USA and when he returned he had to lose 30kgs to get below the 100kg limit to start training to defend his title. He is back in Mongolia and is in a wheelchair and will be for two months. He is considering whether to retire."

After Naidan suffered the injury against Hwang, a London 2012 volunteer said: "The Mongolian came off after the semi-final and seemed totally out of it – screaming, shouting and crying – he couldn't say a word. First of all he was put on a stretcher but there was no access so then his coach had to piggy-back him and he was taken away to the back of the arena."

The final against Khaibulaev was around 30 or 40 minutes later that day. In front of David Cameron, the prime minister, and Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, Khaibulaev needed just over two minutes to beat Naidan with a decisive ippon. After his defeat Naidan did not attend the usually mandatory press conference. Reflecting on the manner of his win, Khaibulaev said: "I met the Olympic champion from the last Olympics. The final was easy somehow, maybe it just seems to me this way. I threw him quickly."

Naidan's bravery is similar to that shown by Shun Fujimoto, the Japanese gymnast who broke his knee at the 1976 Montreal Olympics during the floor exercise. He continued to compete in the team event, scoring 9.5 on the pommel horse and 9.7 on the rings before collapsing in agony.

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