At the beginning of the event, with a full quota of 4 Japanese judoka entered in each category, anyone would have been forgiven for predicting a whitewash. There is something powerful about the influence of being at home and that is never more clearly presented than in Tokyo. However, despite many strong performances, when the final block arrived, only one category offered the chance to the host nation to take all 4 medals: -52 kg.
Five categories guaranteed gold and silver to Japan, while the -100 kg and + 100 kg men’s events each had an interloper in the final to dilute the whitewash. Ilia Sulamanidze (GEO) and Valerii Endovitskii (RUS) each gave fantastic performances to join their Japanese counterparts in the finals. At the end of the first day, Japan led the medal count with 5 gold medals, thanks to the skill and focus of Wakana Koga, Uta Abe, Sanshiro Murao, Akari Omori and Haruka Kaju.
Aside from the wins and losses, medals and judo surprises, day one also offered a moving ceremony to mark the retirement of some very big names in the world of judo. Heartfelt speeches were given for each of the stars by their coaches, mentors or friends. The spectators showed their appreciation with long applause.
- Joshiro Maruyama: double world champion
- Megumi Horikawa: world champion
- Aaron Wolf: world and Olympic champion
- Soichi Hashimoto: Olympic and 5-time world medallist
- Shohei Ono: double Olympic and 3-time world champion
- Referee Hiroyuki Hirano: Paralympic Games
Day one is at an end already and so we are beginning worry that the end maybe coming too fast, but let’s not wish our lives away; there is another action-packed day to come and we can’t wait! Tune in to JudoTV to stay on top of all results, replays, statistics and predictions. Day two begins at 9am sharp.