PARIS (AP) — The Abe siblings' dream of winning judo gold medals for Japan on the same day in their second straight Olympics ended early on Sunday with Uta Abe's shocking loss to Diyora Keldiyorova of Uzbekistan in the round of 16. Uta Abe and her older brother, Hifumi, both won gold in their home Tokyo Olympics, and they both won world championships in each of the two years since 2021. But they won't go home from the Paris Games with another matching set of medals after Keldiyorova beat Abe with a tani otoshi throw for a spectacular ippon 3:04 into their match.
Uta Abe was disconsolate after a loss that clearly stunned her as much as the crowd. After struggling to get to her feet and to step down from the tatami, she knelt and wept in the arms of her coach for at least three minutes after her bout. Her sorrow delayed the next match at Arena Champ-de-Mars in the women's 52-kilogram category, which the 24-year-old has dominated for years.
Uta Abe didn't speak to dozens of reporters gathered after her bout, with her team saying she was too upset. Indeed, her loud sobbing could be heard from dozens of yards outside the tent where she was gathering herself outside the arena. The Abe siblings are huge celebrities in Japan and in the judo world with their photogenic smiles and uncommonly demonstrative personalities, but Uta Abe was unable to add a second Olympic gold medal to her Tokyo gold and four world championships.
“I want to be invincible in everyone’s eyes,” Uta Abe .