Judo at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics – Australia and Beyond
Overview:
The Judo event at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics ran over a total of 8 days, from the 24th of July to the 31st of July.
A total of 393 Judoka from 128 different nations competed this year. Unfortunately, only one player per country was allowed to compete per weight category, due to the pandemic. Since it was their home turf, Japan eagerly wanted to finish at the top spot. Not to mention, Judo’s Olympic debut was in 1964 at the Tokyo Olympics. Though, back then, there were only 27 nations competing, with 72 Judoka.
The beauty of Judo is that, despite all the favourites and top Judoka, it’s still anyone’s game. This was clear throughout the event, as many of the very top missed out on being the Olympic Champion this year. There were also some surprising wins, in the form of dark horses, as well as some unfortunate placements for the more famous and favoured Judoka, as some who were set for gold only came out with bronze, and some didn’t receive medals at all. In judo, a champion is never a champion forever. There will always be someone that is able to claim their spot to become the new gold medalist, and so on.
The Australian Team
Australia had a team of three competitors: Aoife Coughlan (25 years, -70kg), Katharina Haecker (29 years, -63kg) and Nathan Katz (26 years, -66kg). All three managed to win their first fights and achieved places in the top 16. In her first fight, Aoife Coughlan defeated Kiribati’s Kinaua Biribo. In his first fight, Nathan Katz defeated Juan Postigos of Peru. Finally, Katharina Haecker defeated Gili Sharir from Israel – which is an impressive feat, considering Israel are currently 11th in the world for the sport.
Aoife Coughlan began Judo at the young age of 5 in Victoria. She has placed at the Oceanian Judo Championships six times, winning the gold in her weight category three times. Coughlin also came 3rd in the Asian Judo Championships in both 2019 and 2021. Tokyo 2021 was her first Olympic Games.
Katharina Haecker first started Judo at the age of 6 in Hamburg, Germany, where she lived at the time. When she finished High School, she took a year off to discover Australia, as she was born to an Australian father and German mother. Roughly eight years ago, Haecker began fighting for Australia. She has since attended five Oceanian Championships, managing to receive Gold every single time. Haecker also placed 3rd in the Asian Judo Championships in 2019, and placed 2nd in 2021. She has also been selected to fight at six IJF Grand Prix events, resulting in three bronzes, two silvers and a gold in her most recent one in 2020. Tokyo 2021 was her second Olympic Games, as she was first chosen for Rio in 2016.
Nathan Katz comes from a family that lives and breathes Judo – his mother, Kerrye Katz, competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Nathan’s father was one of the coaches on the Australian team that same year. Katz went to his first Olympic Games in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, alongside his brother, Josh. The pair were the first Australian siblings in history to compete in the Judo event in the same year. Nathan has received the gold medal in his category at the Oceanian Championships a total of four times. He has also fought incredibly well in the Taipei Asian Opens, placing 2nd in 2017 and 3rd in 2018.
Day 1: Men’s -60kg and Women’s -48kg Divisions
The -60kg men’s division saw Japan’s Naohisa Takato take the Gold medal. He beat Chinese-Taipei Judoka, Yung Wei Yang, in the final. Yang was surprised, himself, learning that he had made it into a finals match with Takato himself. Despite losing the match, Yang still came out with a silver medal and has quickly become one of the most talked about players of the event. This is because he burst onto the scene out of nowhere. Third place went to France’s Luka Mkheidze and Kazakhstan’s Yeldos Smetov.
The -48kg women’s division was topped by Distria Krasniqi from Kosovo. She was followed by silver medalist Funa Tonaki of Japan, as well as bronze medalists Daria Bilodid from Ukraine, and Urantsetseg Munkhbat from Mongolia. Bilodid was the fan favourite to win gold, as she was the youngest World Champion in the history of the sport, at only 17 years old. She was in tears after losing the semi-finals match, as it meant she had lost her chance at not only a gold medal, but a silver medal too. After her loss, she was given a fight in the repechage, which she managed to come out on top in. From there, she went into her bronze fight, which she ultimately won, as well.
Day 2: Men’s -66kg and Women’s -52kg Divisions
The -66kg men’s division saw Japan take home their second gold medal, as Hifume Abe knocked out the competition. He was followed by Georgia’s Vazha Margvelashvili, who took home the silver. The bronze medalists were An Baul from South Korea, and Daniel Cargnin from Brazil. I was most excited to see An Baul fight, as he is a favourite of mine and won the silver in Rio in 2016. Just like Daria Bilodid, Baul made it to the semi-finals, where he was unexpectedly defeated by Margvelashvili. He went on to a repechage match, where he triumphed, then to the bronze match with Italy’s Manuel Lombardo. Baul won with a wazari (half-point) in golden score (overtime). Unfortunately, some favourites didn’t in the top 4 at all, though they still snuck in to the top 8. Israel’s Baruch Shmailov, who took out Nathan Katz in round 2, was defeated by the controversial Daniel Cargnin, as Cargnin performed several moves that could have easily been deemed as illegal. However, the referee let it go and still gave Cargnin the win. A personal favourite of mine, who managed to still place in the top 8 after being taken out in the Quarterfinals by Abe, is Bashkuu Yondonperenlei from Mongolia. After this defeat, he was given a chance for the bronze medal, but he first had to win a repechage match. He was awarded a point for a throw against his opponent, Lombardo, though he was later penalised (called a shido) and disqualified because the playback showed that he had grabbed his opponent’s leg during the throw, accidentally.
The -52kg women’s division was topped by Japan’s Uta Abe, the younger sister of the -66kg gold medalist, Hifumi. Silver went to Amandine Buchard from France, while bronze went to Chelsie Giles from Great Britain, and Odette Giuffrida from Italy.
Hifumi and Uta’s gold medals made history, as they not only won on their home turf, but they were also the first brother and sister in history to win gold in Olympic Judo.
Day 3: Men’s -73kg and Women’s -57kg Divisions
The -73kg men’s division was predicted by everybody. We were all almost certain that Rio’s gold medalist, Japan’s Shohei Ono, would manage to defend his title. Ono is a perfectionist – you will rarely ever see him make a wrong move. He’s cool and calculated. It doesn’t matter if he is attacked with a flurry of moves from his opponents because, he is always waiting for an opportunity to strike once they make a wrong move. It’s safe to say, we were all correct in our predictions. Silver went to Lasha Shavdatuashvili from Georgia, with bronze going to South Korea’s An Chang-rim and Mongolia’s Tsendochir Tsogtbaatar.
The -57kg women’s division gold medal was earned by Kosovo’s Nora Gjakova. The silver went to France Judoka Sarah-Leonie Cysique, who barely missed out on the gold, as the final was a very close match. The bronze medals went to Jessica Klimkait from Canada, as well as Tsukasha Yoshida from Japan. Cysique was the most impressive in this category. In the last two years, she has received three silvers and a bronze in different Grand Slam competitions, as well as a second place at the 2021 Doha Masters event, which is one of the biggest Judo competitions in the world.
Day 4: Men’s -81kg and Women’s -63kg Divisions
The -81kg men’s division was, once again, dominated by Japan. The gold medalist was Takanori Nagase. Silver went to Saeid Mollaei from Mongolia, while bronze went to Belgium’s Matthias Casse and Georgia’s Shamil Borchasvili. Casse seemed to be the fan favourite in this category, as he was deemed World Champion in 2017. However, he didn’t win gold, opting for bronze instead.
The -63kg women’s division saw France take their very first gold medal in the competition, with Clarrise Abegnenou defeating silver medalist Tina Trstenjak from Slovenia. Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard of Canada, and Italy’s Maria Centracchio, were each award a bronze medal. Abegnenou previously won a silver medal for France in Rio de Janeiro. She lost the gold that year to Tina Trstenjak. So, it’s interesting that in Tokyo, they swapped spots and Abegnenou managed to come out on top in their 2021 final, when she was defeated in the 2016 final in Rio.
Day 5: Men’s -90kg and Women’s -70kg Divisions
The -90kg men’s division was a category that didn’t really have any favourites. Gold was up for grabs for anyone. There weren’t any universal predictions, or anything like that. The gold was taken by Lasha Bekauri from Georgia, who only rose to prominence in 2019, when he came first in the Judo World Masters event. Bekauri won the gold medal on the 28th of July, just two days after his 21st birthday. The silver medal went to Eduard Trippel from Germany, with bronze going to Davlat Bobonov from Uzbekistan, and Krisztian Toth from Hungary. The athlete I was most excited to see was Japan’s Shoichiro Mukai, as he is one of (if not my first) favourite Judoka. Just 3 months prior to Tokyo, Mukai won silver at the World Championships. He was beaten in that final by Bobonov. However, Mukai is no stranger to finals matches, as he has also won gold in two grand slams in 2018, one in Paris and one in Osaka. In Tokyo, Mukai won his first fight against Remi Feuillet from Mauritius, though he was unfortunately defeated in his second round against Toth, who came out with a bronze medal.
The -70kg women’s division gold medal was snatched by Japan’s Chizuru Arai, with silver going to Michaela Polleres from Austria, and bronze going to Madina Taimazova from Russia, as well as Sanne van Dijke from the Netherlands. The most impressive in this category, by far, was Madina Taimazova. Despite losing against Arai in the semi-finals, she still resisted countless armbars and throws in an exhausting match that lasted over 15 minutes. Not to mention, Taimazova executed several throws that took Arai by surprise and almost scored her an Ippon (full point), though she was just short of the mark, as the match looked like the most physically tiring in the entire event. One slip-up, and Taimazova was defeated by Arai, though she still fought her way past a repechage match and a bronze match. Taimazova also had a black eye that had to be treated in-between fights.
Day 6: Men’s -100kg and Women’s -78kg Divisions
The -100kg men’s division gold medal was won by Aaron Wolf from Japan. Silver went to Cho Guham from South Korea. Bronze went to Jorge Fonseca from Portugal, and Niiaz Bilalov from Russia. I was most excited to see Jorge Fonseca fight, as he is not only one of my favourites, but he is also considered one of the most successful. Fonseca is a 2x world champion, both in 2019 and 2021. He went to the Rio Olympics, though he was eliminated by Czech Republic’s Lukas Krpalek in the second round. The beloved Varlam Lipertiliani from Georgia placed 5th, just missing out on a medal. Lipertiliani and Fonseca were the two fan favourites to win this year’s top spots.
The -78kg women’s division was dominated by Hamada Shori of Japan, who took home the gold medal. Silver went to Madeleine Malonga from France, with bronze going to Mayra Aguiar from Brazil, and Anna-Maria Wagner from Germany. Hamada Shori, earlier this year, won the gold medal in the Antalya Grand Slam, and a silver medal in the Doha Masters.
Day 7: Men’s +100kg and Women’s +78kg Divisions
The +100kg men’s division was unexpectedly won by Lukas Krpalek from Czech Republic. Silver went to Georgia’s Guram Tushishvili. Bronze went to Tamerlan Bashaev from Russia, as well as Teddy Riner from France. Gold winner Lukas Krpalek also won the gold medal in Rio in 2016, though it was not for the +100kg category, but for the -100kg category instead. He, apparently, went over 100kg and, as opposed to cutting, decided to just keep going up, as he expected to meet Riner in the final. Teddy Riner, himself, is considered by many to be the best Judoka in the world – bar none. This is because he is a 10x World Champion, winning his first at just 18 years old. This made him the youngest ever male World Champion, as well as the second youngest in general, behind Daria Bilodid, who won at 17. Riner’s first Olympic Games was in Beijing in 2008, where he took bronze. In London in 2012, he won the gold. He then defended his title in Rio in 2016. Teddy Riner is also extremely tall and a proper heavyweight. He measures in at 2.04m (6’8) and weighs roughly 130kg.
The +78kg women’s division gold medal was claimed by Sone Akira of Japan. Silver went to Idalys Ortiz from Cuba. Bronze went to Romane Dicko from France, and Iryna Kindzerska from Azerbaijan. Ortiz winning the silver marked her fourth Olympic medal, thus keeping her trend of earning a medal every single Games she has attended.
Day 8: The Mixed Teams Event
A unique aspect to this year’s Olympic Judo is that it was the debut of the mixed teams event, where different nations’ teams would verse in 1v1 matches and every win counted as one point to your country. And Japan was desperate to win it. However, in a drastic turn of events, Japan was smashed by France in the final, with a score of 4 – 1. I was most looking forward to seeing Teddy Riner fight on France’s side, and Shoichiro Mukai on Japan’s side. Riner impressed, as he beat Aaron Wolf during Golden Score. Unfortunately, Mukai lost his fight against Axel Clerget.
Despite France winning the gold in the teams event, Japan still came out with a silver, and Israel and Germany each came out with bronze medals.
Overall, Japan came out on top on their own home turf, as well as the home of Olympic Judo, the Nippon Budokan, earning a total of 9 gold medals, 1 silver medal, 1 bronze medal, and a 5th place. They were followed by Kosovo in second place, then France, Georgia, and Czech Republic.
- Ellis Plant
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