Japanese Judoka Abe Hifumi has won the gold medal in the men’s 66-kilogram category at the Paris Olympics. This was his second gold, having won his first in the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Abe, ranked sixth in the world, faced Willian Lima of Brazil, the world’s number eight, in the finals on Sunday.
About a minute and a half into the match, Abe was awarded a waza-ari with a sumi-otoshi throw. He then scored another waza-ari with a sode-tsurikomi-goshi throw. That gave him awase-waza ippon, or an ippon victory.
He became the eighth Japanese Judoka to win gold at back-to-back Olympic games.
Earlier in the day, his younger sister Uta, who aimed for her second Olympic gold in the women’s 52-kilogram division, lost in the round of 16.
After clinching his title, Abe told reporters he’s feeling great. He said the past three years until the Paris Games had not been an easy road, and he had a tough day as his sister had lost. But he said he was determined just to do it.