Comments from men's judo gold medallist Mansur ISAEV (RUS) at a media conference following the men's -73kg competition at ExCeL on Monday.

Mansur ISAEV (RUS) - gold

On winning:
"I feel great. I am so happy for Russia and that our country can be proud of this medal. I want people to understand that we have worked so hard these past four years not just like this but to fulfill this dream."

"This gold medal is a cumulation of all your efforts, all your training, all your preparation."

On his performance:
"There might have been a few mistakes."

"I was very concentrated, absolutely focused. I did not do anything unnecessary. I knew what I wanted and where I was going."

"The coach (Ezio GAMBA, ITA) told me 'today you are at our peak'. He told me that after the first matches. He said 'you do not have to worry, you can get there, to the gold medal.'"

"It was a hard match against the Korean (WANG Ki-Chun). He is an Olympic silver medallist (Beijing 2008) and a two-time world champion. I met him six times before and I lost six times. Nothing motivated me me more than finally to win. I wanted to prove not only to him but also to myself that I am the best."

On what changed in the Russian training system:
"The whole system changed with the arrival of our head coach, Olympic champion Ezio GAMBA (1980 Olympic champion in the -73kg). We were training better physically and psychologically. We went to all the competitions, to grand slam and world cup events, we went there and got experience. We have to thank (GAMBA) and all our other coaches. Their work was fruitful and everybody was working together."

"Our head coach (GAMBA) told us that we will train and work constantly, 300 days a year, and this is what happened."

"He prepared us very well psychologically. He is a great man."

On future plans:
"I always wanted to win all the important titles - Olympic Games, world and European championships. But right now I have just one goal, to go home and to rest a little bit."

ONS tf/ck/npb