Japanese judoka, silver medalist of the Games in Tokyo Uta Abe cried with disappointment after losing to the representative of Uzbekistan Diera Keldierova in the 1/8 finals of the tournament at the Paris Olympics in the weight category up to 52 kg.
The 24-year-old athlete burst into tears and remained lying with her face buried in the mats. After getting up, she continued to cry uncontrollably, and the coach did his best to comfort her. Abe's last defeat was 47 victories ago, in November 2019, when she lost to Amandine Bouchard from France, Kyodo writes.
"I couldn't calm down when I lost, because I thought so much about the Olympics, I did so much for this particular day," Uta Abe admitted later.
The athlete also added that Keldierova demonstrated excellent technique.
"I was confused, I didn't have time to react," Abe said.
The head coach of the Japanese women's judo team Katsuyuki Masuchi admitted that her opponent had outsmarted Uta.
"There are so many good judoka in the weight category up to 52 kg. She [Keldierova] has speed. I knew that the competition would be difficult, but I expected Uta to find a way to win, as she always does," said the head coach.
Judoka Uta Abe has a brother Hifumi. They had a dream to win gold medals for Japan in judo on the same day at their second Olympic Games.
Hifumi managed to get together after the defeat of his sister — he held a 59-second duel and defeated Willian Lima from Brazil in the final of the men's judo competition in the weight category up to 66 kg, writes Japan Today.