Japan's Hifumi Abe secured his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the men's 66kg judo event, defeating Willian Lima of Brazil in the final. He remained undefeated since 2019.
In a shocking upset, Uta Abe, Hifumi's sister and a four-time world champion, suffered a defeat against Diyora Keldiyorova of Uzbekistan in the round of 16 of the women's 52kg event. Keldiyorova's tani otoshi throw for an ippon ended Uta's undefeated streak since 2019 and prevented her from winning a second consecutive gold medal.
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Uta Abe, Hifumi's sister and a four-time world champion, suffered a defeat against Diyora Keldiyorova of Uzbekistan
(Radad Jabra)
The Abe siblings are popular in Japan and the judo world, and Uta's loss dashed their dream of winning gold medals on the same day.
Keldiyorova's victory was considered a significant upset in Olympic judo history. She completed a remarkable gold-medal run by defeating top competitors, including Abe. Her win secured Uzbekistan's first judo gold medal.
Uta Abe's defeat added to an early setback for Japan's judo team, which had a strong performance in the previous Tokyo Olympics, winning nine gold medals.
The Abe siblings plan to continue competing until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, aiming to emulate Tadahiro Nomura's three-time gold medal feat.
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq
Sources: Washington Times, Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan Times, Kyodo News, Japan Today, OneIndia, Devdiscourse, LatestLY, KSL, Sports Al Dente, Daily Mail, WTOP