Prior to the Paris Games, Mitsugi Ogata, the Japanese Olympic Committee’s secretary, told the media that the nation was aiming for 55 medals, including 20 golds. The team fell 10 short of the former, but did top the podium 20 times to finish third in the medal table. It was an impressive showing for a country whose previous best at an Olympics outside Tokyo was 16 golds in Athens in 2004.
Friday: Two Wrestling Golds and Ami Yuasa’s Breaking Triumph
Going into the final three days of action, Japan was level with Great Britain and South Korea on 13 golds. It managed to overtake both of those nations, as well as France and Australia, mainly thanks to its wrestlers. On Friday, Tsugumi Sakurai and Rei Higuchi both won 57kg freestyle wrestling golds, defeating Moldova’s Anastasia Nichita and America’s Spencer Lee, respectively.
On the same night, Ami Yuasa became the first ever breaking gold medalist at the Olympics. The 25-year-old, known to her fans as B-girl Ami, defeated Lithuania’s Dominika Banevič in the final. The 16 women competed in one-on-one battles during which they exhibited “power moves,” such as spins and flares, to accompanying music that they had no knowledge of in advance.
Yuasa’s compatriot Ayumi Fukushima was knocked out at the quarterfinal stage. Japan’s other medalist on Friday was Sorato Anraku, who finished second behind Britain’s Toby Roberts in men’s combined climbing. The 17-year-old Chiba Prefecture native was the last to go on the lead route and looked on course for victory. With the gold in sight, the favorite for the competition then dramatically fell.
Saturday: Wins for Haruka Kitaguchi and Sakura Motoki
On Saturday, Japan picked up six more medals, including two golds. Haruka Kitaguchi became the first Japanese woman to top the podium in a field event. Her first throw of 65.80 meters was good enough to win the javelin final. She also would have been victorious with her fifth throw of 64.73 meters. Kitaguchi, who trains in the Czech Republic, triumphed at last year’s World Championships in Budapest.
Japan’s other gold on the night came from Sakura Motoki who defeated Ukraine’s Iryna Koliadenko by technical superiority to win the women’s 62kg freestyle wrestling final. However, there was disappointment for Daichi Takatani in the men’s 74kg men’s freestyle final as he had to settle for silver after losing to Razambek Zhamalov of Uzbekistan.
Japan had three more silver medalists on Saturday, including Taishu Sato in the men’s modern pentathlon, who finished behind Egypt’s Ahmed Elgendy. It was Japan’s first ever medal in the sport. Rikuto Tamai also became the country’s first medalist in the men’s 10-meter platform diving event. He placed second behind China’s Cao Yuan, who has topped the podium at four consecutive Olympics.
China also got the better of Japan in the women’s team table tennis final. Hina Hayata, Miwa Harimoto and Miu Hirano struggled against Wang Manyu, Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng, going down 3-0. It was the fifth straight victory for China in the event. Since table tennis was introduced at the 1988 Summer Olympics, China has won all but one of the women’s competitions. Narrowly missing out on medals on Saturday were Shigeyuki Nakarai and Miyuu Yamashita in the men’s breaking competition and women’s golf, respectively.
Sunday: Kotaro Kiyooka and Yuka Kagami Ensure Team Japan Finish the Paris Olympics in Style
On the final day of the Paris Olympics, Japan secured two more golds to overtake Australia in the medal table. The first came from Kotaro Kiyooka in the men’s 65 kg freestyle wrestling competition. He defeated Rahman Amouzad of Iran 10-3 in the final. Kiyooka’s triumph came two days after the victory of Sakurai, his childhood friend. “We’ve been able to maintain our good relationship and get gold medals together at the Olympics,” he said after the final.
Japan’s 20th and final gold of the Games came from Yuka Kagami, who became the first Japanese female wrestler to win an Olympic title in the heaviest weight division. She defeated Kennedy Blades of the United States 3-1 in the 76 kg final. Her victory meant Japan finished with a record eight gold medals in wrestling.
In the women’s marathon, Japan’s Yuka Suzuki finished sixth in a time of 2:24:02. Dutch runner Sifan Hassan won the race to secure her third medal of the Games. She also won bronze in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. The Olympics wrapped up with women’s basketball as the United States defeated France by a point. It took the U.S. to the top of the medal table, ahead of China by virtue of having more silvers.
