Japan's Takanori Nagase defeats Georgia's Tato Grigalashvili in the men's judo 81-kilogram final at the Champ-de-Mars Arena on July 31 in Paris. (©Kyodo)
Japan's Takanori Nagase captured his second straight Olympic 81-kilogram title on Tuesday, July 30 to become the first judoka to repeat as a gold medalist in the weight class.
Nagase beat three-time world champion Tato Grigalashvili of Georgia 11-0 in the final at the Champ-de-Mars Arena to win Japan's third judo gold medal at the Paris Games.
"I was the defending Olympic champion, but I went in with a challenger mentality," Nagase said, according to Kyodo News.
He joins Natsumi Tsunoda in the women's 48-kg class and Hifumi Abe in the men's 66-kg category as gold-medal winners for Japan.
Nagase also became the sixth Japanese man to win back-to-back Olympic judo titles after Abe became the fifth a few days earlier.
The Japanese judoka scored a waza-ari near the halfway point before sending three-time world champion Grigalashvili to the mat and securing the win by ippon after 2 minutes, 48 seconds of the contest.
Nagase added to his gold medal in Tokyo and a bronze from the 2016 Rio Games.
Takanori Nagase Ends Long Winless Spell
The 30-year-old had a long dry spell and had not won an international competition between the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and this March's Grand Slam event in Antalya, Turkey.
"This is the tournament to decide the real champion of the world," Nagase said, according to Kyodo News. "My focus was to win here in Paris. I kept believing in myself even after I couldn't win for a stretch."
Nagase, ranked No 8 in the world, said his experience from the previous two Olympics gave him confidence. On his way to the final, Nagase racked up five wins.
In his first match, he beat world No 66 Alain Aprahamian of Uruguay by ippon, and in his second match he defeated world No 11 Vedat Albayrak of Turkey after overtime to advance to the quarterfinals.
And in the quarterfinals, Nagase overcame world No 1 Matthias Casse of Belgium in overtime. In the semifinals, he defeated Antonio Esposito of Italy by ippon.
'His Best Best Performance in Three Years'
"I am so excited that I don't remember much," Nagase said. "Many people have trained me and supported me and I am grateful for that."
One of those persons would be Nagase's coach Keiji Suzuki, the 2004 Athens Olympic champion in the men's over-100 kg category.
"It was his best performance in three years," Suzuki was quoted as saying by Kyodo News. "[He] put together the best possible performance when he needed it most."
Added Suzuki, "It's just amazing to see how he built strategy and strength toward this day."
Nagase is the only member of Japan's current squad to compete in three consecutive Olympics.
The soft-spoken native of Nagasaki has won the praise of fans back home. His stoic perseverance is something that resonates in the land that invented judo.
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Author: Jim Armstrong
The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for over 25 years. You can find his articles on SportsLook.
