Untouchable, unstoppable and unshakeable; all these words could describe the performance of the Japanese star, who once again demonstrated her extraordinary power, precision and technical mastery.
One had to witness the way Abe flew through the preliminary rounds to fully appreciate her dominance. Her opponent in the final, Italy’s Odette Giuffrida, was unfortunately forced to withdraw due to injury, leaving the gold medal, almost inevitably, in the hands of Uta Abe, her twelfth gold medal in a grand slam, a new record for a women at the grand slam level.
Troubled by an injured arm, Giuffrida nevertheless produced an exceptional performance to reach the final. Fighting effectively with only one arm, she overcame world championship bronze medallist Roza Gyertyas (HUN), who therefore joined her teammate Reka Pupp (HUN) in a contest for a bronze medal. The experienced Pupp ultimately claimed the medal with a superb uchi-mata scoring waza-ari.
Uta Abe said, “It had been about half a year since my last match, so I was a little nervous. However, I managed to get my feel for the contest back and it turned out to be a good performance. We were able to secure Olympic qualification points while winning the tournament. I think we made a good start towards the Los Angeles Olympics. My next competition will be the World Judo Championships in Baku and I will work hard to win there.”
The second bronze medal contest featured Ariane Toro Soler (ESP) and Khorloodoi Bishrelt (UAE). Bishrelt was the athlete who came closest to challenging Uta Abe, in the semi-final, once again proving that facing the Japanese champion requires something extraordinary.
The contest remained close and undecided for a long time, with neither athlete able to create a decisive advantage. It was only in golden score that Bishrelt finally found the opening to score and capture the bronze medal, to the great delight of the Ulaanbaatar crowd, who have never forgotten her Mongolian roots.
Final (-52 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-52 kg)
