Japan put London woes behind with record haul
Japan’s judokas flew into Rio on a mission to atone for their disappointing results at the London Games, and return home with pride after setting a record for total medals won in the sport at an Olympics.
After taking just one gold four years ago – with the men shut out from titles for the first time – Japan topped the table in Rio with three gold and 12 medals overall.
The creators of the martial art are always tough on themselves no matter how they perform, but even they could acknowledge that it was mission accomplished.
“To tell the truth it would have been great to win one or two more gold medals, but we took medals in 12 of the 14 weight classes. This was beyond my expectations,” said Yasuhiro Yamashita, vice president at the All Japan Judo Federation.
“I think our athletes were able to make amends for London,” said Yamashita, a past Olympic gold medallist.
Japan had claimed five bronze medals before Shohei Ono won the first judo gold of their Rio campaign, in the men’s -73kg division.
On day five, they struck double gold through Haruka Tachimoto in the women’s -70kg and Mashu Baker in the men’s -90kg.
And though he had to settle for silver, Hisayoshi Harasawa gave French superstar Teddy Riner a tough time in the men’s +100kg final, losing on penalties in an otherwise scoreless bout.
“Harasawa is a big fighter, a big opponent for the future,” Riner said after their match.
France was kept waiting until the seventh and final day of action to win gold and anxious fans were pinning their hopes on the unstoppable Riner, who has not lost a match since 2010.
But it was Emilie Andeol who struck first in the earlier final in the women’s +78kg division.
France also won two silver and one bronze, finishing second in the medal table.
Russia won two gold medals as well.
