Lucie Decosse of France finally got an Olympic gold.
She defeated Germany’s Kerstin Thiele in a tense final on Wednesday in the women’s under-70kg judo category — a match marked by aggressive grabbing and pulling that sometimes resembled a schoolyard fight.
Decosse won a silver in Beijing and is a triple world champion. She dropped to the mat on her back clutching her face after winning and had to be coaxed to her feet by the referee for the official announcement that she had won.
Photo: EPA
The 30-year-old was in top form, winning several of her fights with a match-ending ippon. One bout ended in just 10 seconds after Decosse flipped her opponent flat on her back.
Decosse said she knew she would win when she saw Thiele in tears after her semi-final.
“I knew she was happy just to be in the final, but for me, I wasn’t there to be in the final,” she said. “I wanted to win and I did.”
Photo: AFP
Her medal is the first judo gold France has won at the Games. They also have three bronze.
The under-70kg bronze medals were won by Yuri Alvear of Colombia and Edith Bosch of the Netherlands.
It was Colombia’s first Olympic judo medal. Alvear said the president called to congratulate her on her victory just as the medal ceremony was just about to begin.
“I told him I’d call him back,” she said.
In the men’s under-90kg division, Song Dae-nam of South Korea won the gold medal, adding to the country’s judo haul. South Korea had already won one gold and a bronze.
Song defeated Cuban Asley Gonzalez in a closely contested final that went into overtime. Both players were on the defensive for much of the bout, until Song used speedy footwork and dropped low to give him an edge in throwing Gonzalez for the win.
Earlier in the day, Song knocked out one of the competition’s favorites, Japanese fighter Masashi Nishiyama, the world No. 3. Nishiyama later won a bronze.
The 33-year-old Song came in 17th at the world championships last year and was viewed by many as an outsider, a characterization Song disputed.
“All athletes who come to the Olympics are capable of winning,” he said.
The other bronze medal was won by Ilias Iliadis of Greece, who went into the division as world No. 1 and was favored to win the title.
For Japan, it was another day of disappointment.
Nishiyama’s bronze was the only medal of the day. The country that invented the martial art has managed only one gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
Nishiyama said he could not explain why Japan had not won more golds, but that there was no one to blame other than the Japanese themselves.
Decosse said other countries had simply become better at judo.
“[Japan’s] supremacy in judo has come to an end,” she said.
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
When Paddy Dwyer arrived in China in 1976, crowds jostled to catch a glimpse of him and his companions — the first Western soccer team to play in the country. China was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and on the brink of market reforms that would take the country from economic stagnation to explosive growth. “All we could see was lines of people running beside our bus, trying to look in the windows, to see their first visual of a white person,” he said. “It was all bicycles,” he said. “There were very few cars to be seen.” Dwyer,
Matheus Cunha on Saturday fired Manchester United toward the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win at Chelsea, while Tottenham Hotspur remain in the relegation zone after twice blowing the lead to draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Chelsea failed to take advantage of a United defense ravaged by injury and suspension as a fourth straight league defeat for the Blues left their Champions League hopes in ruins. United have missed out on the riches of Europe’s elite competition for the past two seasons, but are closing in on a return thanks to an upturn in fortunes under interim manager
A new NZ$683 million (US$404 million) stadium that was a symbol of Christchurch’s struggle to rebuild after a deadly earthquake struck the New Zealand city is to host its first match tomorrow in front of a sellout crowd. A magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed 185 people in February 2011 and toppled or damaged buildings, including the city’s old Lancaster Park. The stadium, which hosted international rugby and cricket, and was home to the Canterbury Crusaders, was badly damaged and never reopened. It was bulldozed in 2019 and turned into sports fields, leaving the Crusaders without a permanent home. Government funding for a new stadium was
RSS