Olympic judo champion Alice Bellandi kisses girlfriend after winning gold in Paris
Italy’s Alice Bellandi celebrated her gold Olympic win in judo by running to kiss her girlfriend. (@Rai2/ X)
A video of Italy’s Alice Bellandi kissing her girlfriend to celebrate winning a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics has gone viral.
World Championships silver-medallist Bellandi added the Olympic title to her achievements, beating Israel’s Inbar Lanir in the 78kg division in Paris on Thursday (1 August).
Bellandi, was leading 1-0 when former world champion Lanir committed her third minor penalty, ending the contest, the Olympics website reported.
The new Olympic champion then raced off to find fellow judo star Jasmine Martin, who competes for South Africa. A video shows the pair jumping for joy and holding each other’s heads before kissing.
The moment has gone viral online with many people praising the pair for sharing their love openly.
One person wrote: “The most beautiful image of today. It was needed.”
Others, however, commented on the idea of Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, potentially watching on and seeing a display of LGBTQ+ love.
According to one comment, Italian media referred to the passionate moment as a “hug”.
In April, Meloni called surrogacy “an inhuman practice” and supported a bill to make it “a universal crime”. She has long campaigned against it, especially for same-sex parents.
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