Paris, France — Ashley McKenzie fought back tears as he reflected on the end of his Olympic medal dream in the 60kg division in judo at the Champs de Mar Arena near the centre of Paris.

The 35-year-old Londoner, who transferred his allegiance to Jamaica last year after a glittering career representing England and Great Britain spanning three decades, admitted he would have to deeply consider the matter after losing in the round of 16 to Turkish opponent Salih Yildiz.

There was some controversy after McKenzie, a five-time British champion, appeared to have yielded a submission only for the referee to call “matte” — effectively a break in action — and allowed the contest to continue.

“I heard him [Yildiz] shout, and if he’d done that before the referee had called ‘matte’, Ashley would have won,” confirmed McKenzie’s Coach Luke Preston, himself a three-time former British champion.

Both judokas picked up early penalties (shidos) for ‘grip avoidance with a blow’ before McKenzie was penalised again, meaning he was behind with just over a minute remaining.

With 39 seconds from the end, Yildiz claimed an ultimately decisive waza-ari and the Jamaican fighter, now in his fourth Olympics after London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, recalled, “We both had a shido, and then I had another so I was pushing in the fight and got caught.

“Judo is a very harsh sport, and if you give an inch, they take a mile and I gave him that inch and he threw me — and that was that!

“He was attacking me but not for attacking, just to get shidos [which could adversely decide a bout], which is something I’ve done in my time, so I can’t moan.

“I can’t take it away from him and wish him the best and hope he gets a medal.”

Looking back barely an hour to his victory over Yemen’s Hesham Makabr in the previous round, McKenzie, who has one daughter with estranged three-time former European judo champion Automne Pavia, continued, “I stuck to my tactics against Makabr and it worked.

“In the next round I gave him [Yildiz] that inch and that will probably stay with me for a long time.

“It’s a long journey to get to here. You do so much training, then have competitions, with time away from your family — my body’s tired and I just need time out to relax.

“I don’t know about retirement, I need to speak to my coach and others.

“I’m 35-years-old now and I miss my little girl [Lana Rose, who lives with his mother in France and was watching, along with his brother, inside the arena.)

“I also miss the time I spend with my coach and his family.”

His eyes now filling with tears, twice Commonwealth champion (in 2014 and 2022) McKenzie concluded, “It’s on the cards — now I just want time out!”