Japan, host France dominant in judo at Paris 2024

PARIS: Japan topped the gold medal tally with three golds while host France bagged most medals as the judo competition concluded on Saturday at the Paris Olympics. Japan, the traditional powerhouse in judo who won nine golds at the Tokyo Olympics, collected three out of the 15 gold medals on offer, plus two silvers and three bronzes. Among their gold medalists, Hifumi Abe and Takanori Nagase successfully defended their titles in the men’s 66kg and 81kg respectively.

The host nation put on a strong showing, too, earning two golds, two silvers, and six bronzes. Legendary Teddy Riner, competing in his fifth Olympics starting 2008, claimed his third individual title in the men’s over 100kg.

“It is crazy,” Riner said after winning his individual event. “Happy to have done it. We dream about it. We have some nightmares about it. But we can never think that it will happen this way.”