Japan's WOLF Aaron wins men's -100kg judo gold by Ippon

WOLF Aaron has won the eighth judo gold medal by a Japanese athlete at Tokyo 2020 with a Golden Score Ippon victory over Republic of Korea's CHO Guham. The 25-year-old put in a dominant performance to win the Olympic title in a highly competitive -100kg category.

Wolf, whose father is American and mother Japanese, battled valiantly against a cagey but dangerous opponent, who earlier in the evening had beaten 2021 world champion Jorge Fonseca in the semifinal bout. However, there was to be no repeat of Cho's heroics, as Wolf won the contest in a time of 9:35.

The eight gold judo medals Japanese athletes have won at these Olympic Games is the joint-highest in history, equalling their tally from Athens 2004. And with HARASAWA Hisayosh (+100kg) and SONE Akira (+78kg ) competing tomorrow in the Nippon Budokan, the world may not have to wait long for a new record to be set.

Portugal's Fonseca bounced back from a dislocated thumb in his semifinal with Cho to win a hard-earned bronze medal bout against Shady Elnahas of Canada. The second -100kg bronze was won by ROC's Niliaz Iliasov who beat Varlam Liparteliani of Georgia.

Fonseca's medal was the first won by a Portuguese athlete at the Tokyo 2020 Games. The judoka battled cancer before the Rio 2016 Games, undergoing double sessions of chemotherapy in order to compete at those Olympics.