
Judo: Nagayama wins men's 60-kg gold on opening day of world c'ships
BUDAPEST (Kyodo) -- Japan's Ryuju Nagayama defeated France's Romain Valadier Picard by ippon in the men's 60-kilogram final at the world judo championships in Budapest on Friday.
The 29-year-old from Hokkaido, who took bronze at last year's Paris Olympics, captured his first world title in his sixth appearance.
Nagayama won five matches from the second round on the opening day of the championships in the Hungarian capital.
"I finally became a champion," said Nagayama, who was third at the world championships in 2018 and 2019. "I wasn't in good form, but I managed to fight calmly."
"This isn't my goal. I only think about winning gold at the Los Angeles Olympics and will work hard toward the next tournament."
In the women's 48-kg event, Japanese compatriot Wakana Koga bounced back from her quarterfinal loss to Kazakhstan's Abiba Abuzhakynova to fight through the repechage and claim bronze.
Italy's Assunta Scutto defeated Abuzhakynova in the weight division's final.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Mainichi
9 hours ago
- The Mainichi
JOC President Yasuhiro Yamashita to receive Olympic Order from IOC
GENEVA (Kyodo) -- Japanese Olympic Committee President Yasuhiro Yamashita will receive the Olympic Order from the International Olympic Committee, multiple sources said Saturday. The decision was approved during an IOC board meeting this month with the 68-year-old Yamashita, who won the judo open category gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, to be honored for his contribution to the Olympic movement. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike and then Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga each received the Olympic Order in 2021 after helping stage the Tokyo Games amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Yamashita suffered a cervical vertebrae injury in October 2023 during his third term as the JOC president and has been away from his duties since. He is set to step down from both his JOC post and as an IOC member later this month.


The Mainichi
16 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Judo: Nagayama wins men's 60-kg gold on opening day of world c'ships
BUDAPEST (Kyodo) -- Japan's Ryuju Nagayama defeated France's Romain Valadier Picard by ippon in the men's 60-kilogram final at the world judo championships in Budapest on Friday. The 29-year-old from Hokkaido, who took bronze at last year's Paris Olympics, captured his first world title in his sixth appearance. Nagayama won five matches from the second round on the opening day of the championships in the Hungarian capital. "I finally became a champion," said Nagayama, who was third at the world championships in 2018 and 2019. "I wasn't in good form, but I managed to fight calmly." "This isn't my goal. I only think about winning gold at the Los Angeles Olympics and will work hard toward the next tournament." In the women's 48-kg event, Japanese compatriot Wakana Koga bounced back from her quarterfinal loss to Kazakhstan's Abiba Abuzhakynova to fight through the repechage and claim bronze. Italy's Assunta Scutto defeated Abuzhakynova in the weight division's final.


The Mainichi
17 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Baseball: Dodgers ace Yamamoto roughed up by Giants
LOS ANGELES (Kyodo) -- Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto had one of his worst outings of the season Friday, giving up two home runs, including a grand slam, in a 6-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants. Yamamoto (6-5) was charged with five runs and six hits in 4-2/3 innings of work while issuing an uncharacteristic five walks and striking out four at Dodger Stadium. Willy Adames' solo home run put the Giants on the board in the first inning. Casey Schmitt broke a 1-1 tie with a two-out grand slam in the third after the Japanese right-hander walked three batters to load the bases. Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4 to have his eight-game hitting streak snapped in the opener of a three-game series between the National League West rivals. Logan Webb (6-5) earned the win after allowing two runs in seven innings. Among other Japanese players, New York Mets pitcher Kodai Senga was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. The Major League Baseball ERA leader sustained the injury in Thursday's game against the Washington Nationals.