Left: Japan’s Uta Abe reacts after the women’s -52 kg elimination match against Diyora Keldiyorova of Uzbekistan during a team judo match at the Champ-de-Mars Arena during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France.
Right: Hifumi Abe of Japan celebrates her victory over Willian Lima of Brazil during their team judo final in the -66 kg class at the Champ-de-Mars Arena during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024 in Paris, France.
12:22 JST, July 29, 2024
PARIS (AP) — Immediately after Hifumi Abe threw his last opponent to the tatami mat to secure his second gold medal in judo at the Olympic Games, he stood up and looked straight at his sister, who was sitting in the stands of the Champ-de-Mars Arena, crying.
The Abe brothers’ dream of winning gold medals for Japan on the same day at their second consecutive Olympics came to an early end on Sunday. Uta Abe, a four-time world champion who had not lost in five years, was defeated in her second bout in Paris by eventual gold medalist Diyora Keldiyorova of Uzbekistan in a stunning upset.
But her big brother supported her.
Hifumi Abe made sure the first judo team went home with at least one gold medal, so the collection may not be complete yet.
“My sister lost today, so it was a very hard day for me, but I felt like I had to work hard for my sister all day,” Hifumi Abe said through an interpreter. “It was hard and painful. But I controlled my emotions and I felt like I had no choice but to do my best as an older brother.”
Hifumi Abe defeated Brazil’s Willian Lima in the men’s 66kg final, but the double victory the Abe siblings had been seeking for three years failed to materialise.
They both won gold on the same day at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, their home stadium, and they have both won world championships every year since 2021.
They missed their chance to take home another set of medals from the Paris Games when Keldiyorova surprised Abe, who was leading 1-0, with a spectacular ippon thanks to a tani otoshi throw after 3:04 minutes of play.
“She performed a great technique,” Uta Abe told Japanese media much later. “I was thrown off without having a moment to react.”
Uta Abe was inconsolable for hours. Neither sibling had been defeated in a competition since 2019 and it was only the second defeat for the 24-year-old Uta since 2016.
After standing with her hands on her temples in utter disbelief, she struggled to leave the tatami before kneeling and crying in her coach’s arms for at least three minutes. Her grief delayed her next competition in the women’s 52-kilogram category, which she has dominated for years.
Many minutes later, her sobs could be heard dozens of yards from the tent where they gathered outside the arena.
“I couldn’t calm myself down when I lost because I thought so much about the Olympics and did so much for this particular day,” Uta Abe said. “I scored first and I think I rushed to finish the match.”
The Abe siblings are huge celebrities in Japan and in the judo world, with their photogenic smiles and unusually demonstrative personalities. However, the loss of Uta was devastating for both the family and the millions of fans.
Hifumi Abe was shocked, but not deterred.
His first bout ended in 59 seconds with a vicious ippon against Hungary’s Bence Pongracz, and an hour later he fought through a bloody nose to reach the semi-finals with another ippon victory over Tajikistan’s Nurali Emomali, who badly injured his left arm trying to break his fall.
Hifumi Abe faced the toughest test in the semi-finals from top-ranked Moldovan Denis Vieru, but he won with a superb harai goshi hip sweep after 9 seconds in the golden score.
In the final, Hifumi Abe gradually broke Lima down, scoring with a waza ari with 2:12 left on the clock and ending it with an impressive throw with 1:24 left on the clock.
The famous Japanese judo team won nine gold medals at the Olympic Games three years ago and a total of twelve medals in this Japanese sport.
The team is so good that winning two gold medals in four events so far in Paris can be called a difficult start.
Natsumi Tsunoda won gold in the women’s 48-kilogram category on Saturday, but Ryuju Nagayama settled for bronze in the men’s 60-kilogram category after a controversial loss to Spain’s Francisco Garrigos.
Tsunoda was the last person to defeat Uta Abe by ippon before Sunday, when the veteran did so in the 2016 Tokyo Grand Slam final with an armlock over the 16-year-old prodigy.
Keldiyorova completed one of the toughest gold medal races in Olympic judo history, beating France’s Amandine Buchard and defeating a second gold medalist from Tokyo, Distria Krasniqi of Kosovo, in the final.
“She gave me a tough fight, and I know she’s a champion,” Keldiyorova said through an interpreter. “I just had to fight and try to win, but I have so much respect for her.”
The Abe brothers’ Olympic journey isn’t over yet: they both said they want to keep competing until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Tadahiro Nomura is currently the only three-time Olympic gold medalist in individual judo.
“I will do my best to become even stronger in judo,” said Hifumi Abe.
