Men’s 60kg
The judokas were separated into four pools. The number one seed was Kim Won-Jim (South Korea) but he was upset in the Quarter Final by Beslan Mudranov (Russia) who scored an ippon. In Pool B, it came down to the two favourites, Naohisa Takato (Japan) and Amiran Papinashvili (Georgia) with Papinashvili also scoring an ippon. Home favourite Felipe Kitadai (Brazil) made it to the quarter-final where he competed against Orkhan Safarov (Azerbaijan), losing a close bout. They were joined in the semi-final by Yeldos Smetov (Kazakhstan) who edged Ashley McKenzie (Great Britain) and Diyorbek Urozboev (Uzbekistan). In the semis, he defeated Safarov by waza-ari. Mudranov won against Papinashvili to land reach the final. The final would go to the golden score and Mudranov would clinch the gold. The two bronze medal matchups went to the judokas who had come through the repechage with Urozboev edging Papinashvili and Takato beating Safarov after he was penalised for not attacking.
🥇Beslan Mudranov 🇷🇺
🥈Yeldos Smetov 🇰🇿
🥉Naohisa Takato 🇯🇵
🥉Diyorbek Urozboev 🇺🇿
Men’s 66kg
Ba-Ul An (South Korea) was the top seed, dominant on his way through to the quarter-finals where he took on double bronze medalist Rishod Sobirov (Uzbekistan). Georgii Zantaraia (Ukraine) was upset by Sergiu Oleinic (Portugal) allowing Masashi Ebinuma (Japan) to cruise through the quarter, scoring an ippon on every opponent. Fabio Basile (Italy) came through the third quarter defeating Davaadorjiin Tömörkhüleg (Mongolia). Shocks also came in the bottom quarter as Mikhail Pulyaev (Russia) was defeated by Antoine Bouchard (Canada) and Vazha Margvelashvili (Georgia) lost to Adrian Gomboc (Slovenia). Gomboc was the man who came through the quarter, defeating Bouchard in the round of 16. Basile edged Gomboc on a penalty to make the final while An landed a yuko to make it through as his opponent. Sobirov made Gomboc tap to secure his bronze medal, with Ebinuma landing an ippon on Bouchard to win a bronze. Basile, the smallest Judoka in the field, would land ippon on An to get the gold medal.
🥇Fabio Basile 🇮🇹
🥈Ba-Ul An 🇰🇷
🥉Rishod Sobirov 🇺🇿
🥉Masashi Ebinuma 🇯🇵
Men’s 73kg
Another Korean favourite was upset as Chang-Rim An (South Korea) went down to Dirk Van Tichelt (Belgium). Tichelt defeated Denis Iartcev (Russia) to get to the semi-finals. A clash between Lasha Shavdatuashvili (Georgia) and Shohei Ono (Japan) headlined the second quarter, with Ono landing a minor hip throw to get through. Rustam Orujov (Azerbaijan) made his way through the third quarter meaning he would come up against Sagi Muki (Israel) in the semi-final. Ono proved himself to be the dominant judoka of the day with ippon victories over Tichelt and Orujov to claim gold. Tichelt secured a bronze by defeating Miklós Ungvári (Hungary) but Muki was beaten by Shavdatuashvili for the other bronze.
🥇Shohei Ono 🇯🇵
🥈Rustam Orujov 🇦🇿
🥉Dirk Van Tichelt 🇧🇪
🥉Lasha Shavdatuashvili 🇬🇪
Men’s 81kg
Avtandil Tchrikishvili (Georgia) was the number one seed and made his way through his quarter only edging Juan Diego Turcios (El Salvador). Ivaylo Ivanov (Bulgaria) and Travis Stevens (United States) competed in a quarter-final which Stevens won with an ippon. Stevens would beat Tchrikishvili with an ippon as well, submitting the Georgian with less than a minute to go. Sergiu Toma (United Arab Emirates) impressively came through quarter three with wins over home favourite Victor Penalber (Brazil) and Takenori Nagase (Japan). The biggest shock probably came when Uuganbaataryn Otgonbaatar (Mongolia) was defeated in his first fight against Mohamed Abdelaal (Egypt). Khasan Khalmurzaev (Russia) took advantage, edging through the quarter. He was a changed man in the medal fights, winning both the semi and final by ippon. Nagase, who came through the repechage managed to take a surprise bronze medal off Tchrikishvili.
🥇Khasan Khalmurzaev 🇷🇺
🥈Travis Stevens 🇺🇸
🥉Sergiu Toma 🇦🇪
🥉Takenori Nagase 🇯🇵
Men’s 90kg
Mashu Baker (Japan) made his way through to the medal fights with relative ease, beating everyone in his quarter by ippon to underline his status as favourite. In the second quarter, Cheng Xunzhao (China) managed to score upset wins over Ilias Iliadis (Greece), Krisztián Tóth (Hungary) and Marcus Nyman (Sweden) with an osoto-gari. Eager to not be outdone by Baker, Gwak Dong-Han (South Korea) also ran through his quarter, winning each fight by ippon. Varlam Liparteliani (Georgia) edged Lkhagvasurengiin Otgonbaatar (Mongolia) to become the fourth semi-finalist. Baker once again won by ippon in the semi-final and would take on Liparteliani who also won by ippon. Both the losing semi-finalists won bronze medals, overcoming Nyman and Otgonbaatar. In the final, Mashu Baker finally didn’t manage to ippon his opponent but won after a yuko.
🥇Mashu Baker 🇯🇵
🥈Varlam Liparteliani 🇬🇪
🥉Gwak Dong-Han 🇰🇷
🥉Cheng Xunzhao 🇨🇳
Men’s 100kg
The 2012 Olympic champion Tagir Khaibulaev (Russia) went out in his first fight losing to Elmar Gasimov (Azerbaijan). In the same quarter, also going out in his first fight was 2008 Olympic champion Naidangiin Tüvshinbayar (Mongolia). Gasimov made his way through the quarter. In the semi-final, he would defeat Artem Bloshenko (Ukraine) who had beaten Karl-Richard Frey (Germany) to reach that stage. Cyrille Maret (France) beat double Olympic medalist Henk Grol (Netherlands) and Beka Gviniashvili (Georgia) to make it through the third quarter. The bottom quarter was headlined by a battle between the 2013 and 2014 world champions with Lukas Krpalek (Czech Republic) defeating Ryunosuke Haga (Japan). Krpalek would join Gasimov in the final, who he beat by ippon. Haga came through the repechage and beat Bloshenko to win a bronze medal.
🥇Lukas Krpalek 🇨🇿
🥈Elmar Gasimov 🇦🇿
🥉Cyrille Maret 🇫🇷
🥉Ryunosuke Haga 🇯🇵
Men’s 100kg+
The first round of this competition attracted controversy as Or Sasson (Israel) defeated Islam El Shahaby (Egypt) but El Shahaby refused to shake his hand because of political tensions. He managed to overcome that and reach the semi-finals, beating Roy Meyer (Netherlands) in the quarter-finals. Also in his half was Teddy Riner (France) who came through and beat Sasson in the semis via wazari. Adam Okruashvili (Georgia) was upset in the first round by Hisayoshi Harasawa (Japan). Harasawa then defeated Ushangi Kokauri (Azerbaijan) and Alex García Mendoza (Cuba). Abdullo Tangriev (Uzbekistan) rolled back the years, by making his way through his quarter with a great win over Iurii Krakovetskii (Kyrgyzstan) who had beaten Yakiv Khammo (Ukraine). Rafael Silva (Brazil) bounced back from his defeat to go through the repechage and win a bronze medal. Harasawa defeated Tangriev to make the final, but he and Riner fought out a tense bout in which Riner edged.
🥇Teddy Riner 🇫🇷
🥈Hisayoshi Harasawa 🇯🇵
🥉Or Sasson 🇮🇱
🥉Rafael Silva 🇧🇷
Women’s 48kg
A big clash came straight away as Jeong Bo-Kyeong (South Korea) clashed with Monkhbatyn Urantsetseg (Mongolia) winning by ippon. She would come up against Dayaris Mestre (Cuba) who had shocked 2012 Olympic Champion and national hero Sarah Menezes (Brazil). The bronze medalist from 2012, Eva Csernoviczki (Hungary) was also defeated in the quarter-final, this time by Paula Pareto (Argentina). She would come up against Ami Kondo (Japan) in the quarter-finals who had won both bouts by ippon. Pareto would get the win by wazari and go on to face Bo-Kyeong where she would once again win by wazari to take the gold medal. Menezes was also defeated in the repechage round by Urantsetseg who was denied a medal by Kondo.
🥇Paula Pareto 🇦🇷
🥈Jeong Bo-Kyeong 🇰🇷
🥉Ami Kondo 🇯🇵
🥉Galbadrakhyn Otgotsetseg 🇰🇿
Women’s 52kg
One of the best stories of the Olympics came as Kosovo won their first gold medal. Majlinda Kelmendi (Kosovo) fought three tight contests only scoring one yuko in her final three bouts. This was enough to beat Odette Giuffrida (Italy) who had come through a tough path to the final, including beating fancied World Championships silver medalist Andreea Chitu (Romania) in the quarter-final. Another upset took place in the quarter-finals as Ma Yingnan (China) managed to defeat serial medalist Érika Miranda (Brazil). In the other quarter world champion Misato Nakamura (Japan) fought her way through to the semi-final, which saw a mega clash emerge as she took on Kelmendi. Despite that loss, she sealed a bronze medal by defeating Érika Miranda. Natalia Kuziutina (Russia) managed to win herself a bronze medal by beating Yingnan.
🥇Majlinda Kelmendi 🇽🇰
🥈Odette Giuffrida 🇮🇹
🥉Misato Nakamura 🇯🇵
🥉Natalia Kuziutina 🇷🇺
Women’s 57kg
Another great story came as Rafaela Silva won Brazil’s first gold medal. Growing up in the slums of Rio, Silva overcame disappointment in 2012 by defeating the top two seeds on her way to gold. First came the number two, Kim Jan Di (South Korea) who she defeated with a wazari. She edged past Hedvig Karakas (Hungary), who had controversially beat her in 2012, with another wazari. Corina Căprioriu (Romania) was beaten in sudden death before the final against Dorjsürengiin Sumiyaa (Mongolia) with also saw her win by wazari before disappearing into the jubilant crowd. The 2012 gold medalist Kaori Matsumoto (Japan) had impressively worked her way through to the semi-finals with a good win over Automne Pavia (France). She was defeated by ippon in the semi-final by Sumiyaa.
🥇Rafaela Silva 🇧🇷
🥈Dorjsürengiin Sumiyaa 🇲🇳
🥉Kaori Matsumoto 🇯🇵
🥉Telma Monteiro 🇵🇹
Women’s 63kg
The top half of the draw was highlighted by a potential quarter-final bout between World Champion Tina Trstenjak (Slovenia) and the bronze medalist Tsedevsürengiin Mönkhzayaa (Mongolia). That was ruined by Yang Junxia (China) who beat Mönkhzayaa in round two. Former world champion Yarden Gerbi (Israel) also went out earlier than expected, losing to Mariana Silva (Brazil) who had beaten fifth seed Martyna Trajdos (Germany). The 2014 World Champion Clarisse Agbegnenou (France) came up against the 2013 bronze medal winner Anicka Van Emden (Netherlands), beating her with a yuko preceded by an ippon. In the semi-final she would come up against Miku Tashiro (Japan), winning after Tashiro got a yellow card. The final was between the top two seeds in Agbegnenou and Trstenjak, with a subtle change of pace netting Trstenjak the gold medal after establishing a north-south position to get an ippon. Gerbi rallied back from her disappointment to win a bronze medal with two early onslaughts.
🥇Tina Trstenjak 🇸🇮
🥈Clarisse Agbegnenou 🇫🇷
🥉Yarden Gerbi 🇮🇱
🥉Anicka Van Emden 🇳🇱
Women’s 70kg
The big shock of the day came early as Haruka Tachimoto (Japan) snuck past number one seed Kim Polling (Netherlands) by landing two yukos. In the semi-final, she came up against Laura Vargas Koch (Germany) who beat Bernadette Graf (Austria) to get through. Upsets also happened at the other end of the draw as Sally Conway (Great Britain), down a yuko, scored an ippon against 2015 World Champion Gévrise Émane (France). She would make her way through to the semi-finals after beating Linda Bolder (Israel) who edged Kim Seong-yeon (South Korea). The big quarter-final clash came between the 2015 World Championship silver medalist María Bernabéu (Spain) and bronze medalist Yuri Alvear (Colombia). Alvear got the ippon victory over Bernabéu and beat Conway. She would come unstuck in the final after a rear takedown and was pinned by Tachimoto. The two bronze medals were won by the semi-finalists in Conway and Vargas Koch.
🥇Haruka Tachimoto 🇯🇵
🥈Yuri Alvear 🇨🇴
🥉Sally Conway 🇬🇧
🥉Laura Vargas Koch 🇩🇪
Women’s 78kg
The big clash was due to take place in the quarter-finals as 2012 Olympic Champion Kayla Harrison (United States) was set to take on 2015 World Champion Mami Umeki (Japan). That was scuppered as Umeki was upset by Abigel Joo (Hungary), who Harrison went on to beat by ippon. She also beat her first opponent, Zhang Zhehui (China) by ippon and went on to win each bout by ippon. The semi-finalist she beat was Anamari Velensek (Slovenia), the World Championship silver medalist. Velensek was meant to clash with the bronze medalist Marhinde Verkerk (Netherlands) but she went out to Yalennis Castillo (Cuba), who Velensek then beat by ippon. Audrey Tcheuméo (France) managed to edge her way past Natalie Powell (Great Britain) and would go on to face Brazilian hero Mayra Aguiar (Brazil) who had herself overcome a titanic battle against Luise Malzahn (Germany). Tcheuméo edged Aguiar to make the final but found herself on the wrong side of a Kayla Harrison ippon. Aguiar managed to edge Castillo to take bronze whilst Velensek got an ippon over Malzahn.
🥇Kayla Harrison 🇺🇸
🥈Audrey Tcheuméo 🇫🇷
🥉Mayra Aguiar 🇧🇷
🥉Anamari Velensek 🇸🇮
Women’s 78kg+
Yu Song (China) was the number one seed and won her opening two fights by ippon. Emilie Andeol (France) was the other extreme, not scoring anything on her opponents but still taking the win to get to the semi-finals. They were joined by Idalys Ortiz (Cuba) and Kanae Yamabe (Japan) who also won their first two bouts by ippon. The four ranked fighters made it through to the semis. Andeol would cause a big shock with a victory over Song and came up against Ortiz who edged Yamabe. Andeol finally pinned Ortiz in an osei-komi in a golden score to take the victory. Both Yamabe and Song scored wins in their bronze medal matchups.
🥇Emilie Andeol 🇫🇷
🥈Idalys Ortiz 🇨🇺
🥉Kanae Yamabe 🇯🇵
🥉Yu Song 🇨🇳
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