PARIS (AFP) – Japan’s defending Olympic judo champion Uta Abe crashed out of the Paris Games in the second round of the women’s under-52 kilogrammes (kg) competition after a shock defeat Sunday.
Abe, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago on the same day that brother Hifumi Abe won the men’s under-66kg category, lost to Uzbekistan’s Diyora Keldiyorova.
Abe is a four-time world champion and was one of the favourites to take gold at the Champ de Mars Arena. But she left the mat in tears after losing her match by ippon.
Japan’s Natsumi Tsunoda won gold in the women’s under-48kg competition on Saturday, beating Mongolia’s Baasankhuu Bavuudorj in the final.
