THE JAPAN NEWS




 

Takanori Nagase gave Japan its fifth gold medal in judo at the Tokyo Olympics, winning the men’s 81-kilogram division on Tuesday at Nippon Budokan.

The 27-year-old Nagase, a bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, reached the top of the medal podium by defeating Saeid Mollaei of Mongolia in the final.

Nagase’s gold was the first for Japan in the 81-kilogram division in five Olympics; its previous gold in that category came at the 2000 Sydney Games.

The Nagasaki Prefecture native won his first and only world championship in 2015 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Following the Rio Olympics, he suffered a knee injury at the 2017 world championships in Budapest.

After recovering from the injury, he set out to earn a place at a second Olympics and reestablished his credentials in 2019, when he won two Grand Slam and two Grand Prix events on the world circuit.

In the women’s 63-kilogram division, Miku Tashiro missed out on a medal after losing in the second round.