Lukas Krpalek (blue) of Czech Republic battles Guram Tushishvili of Georgia during the judo men's +100kg final at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on July 30, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)
TOKYO, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Akira Sone and Lukas Krpalek of the Czech Republic won the judo women's +78kg and men's +100kg division titles respectively at the Tokyo Olympic Games on Friday.
In women's +78kg final, Sone defeated Idalys Ortiz of Cuba by an ippon to give the host nation its ninth gold in judo. The bronze medals went to French Romane Dicko and Iryna Kindzerska of Azerbaijan, who beat Chinese judoka Xu Shiyan in the bronze medal contest.
"There were rough times, tournaments were canceled and I couldn't practice. There were times I hated judo. But I'm happy I fought through it," said Sone.
Sone Akira (L) of Japan competes against Idalys Ortiz of Cuba during the judo women's +78kg final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on July 30, 2021. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
Xu started her training for the Tokyo Olympics in just three months. "China was not doing well in judo at this Olympics. It was tough to see my teammates losing the first or second rounds," Xu said with tears. "I was desperate to win a medal but I failed."
In men's +100kg final, Krpalek toppled Guram Tushishvili of Georgia to win gold.
Tamerlan Bashaev of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and Teddy Riner of France bagged bronze medals in the category.
As the men's -100kg champion at Rio 2016, Krpalek said winning in +100kg category was like a huge dream coming true. "I didn't believe until the last moment, but I achieved it."
