Matsumoto ends Japan's judo gold medal drought

Olympics Jul. 31, 2012 - 11:46AM JST ( 23 )

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23 Comments

3

KariHarukaJul. 31, 2012 - 06:56AM JST

Congrats Kaori on winning gold!
1

Mirai HayashiJul. 31, 2012 - 07:20AM JST

Awesome!
4

CarcharodonJul. 31, 2012 - 07:21AM JST

What in intimidating competitor on the mat Matsumoto is! Intense!
2

Naoko Idesawa-ItoJul. 31, 2012 - 08:09AM JST

She literally eyed on Gold !
1

kurumazakaJul. 31, 2012 - 08:37AM JST

Matsumoto is a beast! Her intensity reminds me early Mike Tyson. Kowai! Good job. Just wish Nakaya had been able to beat that cocky Russian dude.
3

rickyveeJul. 31, 2012 - 09:28AM JST

her pre-match routines were intimidating! she looked like a woman possessed. but congrats on getting the first gold for japan. well-deserved medal.
5

A+b/a=a/b≡?Jul. 31, 2012 - 09:51AM JST

Good for her! Well done!
1

YubaruJul. 31, 2012 - 09:53AM JST

She surely was intense and focused on her matches! Congratulations!
0

YubaruJul. 31, 2012 - 09:57AM JST

Japan have the reigning world champions in the three lightest women’s weights but her team-mates Tomoko Fukumi and Misato Nakamura had failed to deliver here in the under-48kg and under-52kg categories respectively.

Added to that, Matsumoto had been selected ahead of world champion Aiko Sato, just as her two other fellow Olympians had been picked over team-mates who were either world champions or number one in the world rankings.

Am I reading this right? The first paragraph quoted here makes it sound or implies as if all three of these women are the reigning world champions in their weight categories, thus the pressure and expectation to win being high.

But the 2nd paragraph debunks that.
-4

Pukey2Jul. 31, 2012 - 09:58AM JST

Good on ya, gal! Now, another 15 golds to go!
-1

CrazyJoeJul. 31, 2012 - 09:59AM JST

At least she smiles.
-1

tamanegiJul. 31, 2012 - 10:07AM JST

Kaori for PM!
1

smithinjapanJul. 31, 2012 - 10:28AM JST

Congrats to her and the Japan team on their first gold!
1

Mike DeJongJul. 31, 2012 - 11:03AM JST

Are there any other countries in the Olympics? I can't tell from watching NHK.
-1

It"S MEJul. 31, 2012 - 11:21AM JST

Mike.

Try other channels apart from NHK, lots of coverage.
-2

LH10Jul. 31, 2012 - 11:50AM JST

O><o oh yeah japan!
1

Mirai HayashiJul. 31, 2012 - 12:47PM JST

She's a total monster though...I don't think anyone could have beaten her.
0

freakashowJul. 31, 2012 - 01:30PM JST

Are there any other countries in the Olympics? I can't tell from watching NHK.

I guess you missed the NHK showing of the US-France basketball game, or the Brazil-Belarus soccer match on NHK-BS1, or the Honduras-Spain soccer match. Lots of other teams and sports have been highlighted. They even show many swimming heats that don't include Japanese athletes participating in them.
-3

ebisenJul. 31, 2012 - 04:16PM JST

She's a total monster though...I don't think anyone could have beaten her.

She didn't beat the Romanian. The Romanian beat herself...
1

LowlyJul. 31, 2012 - 10:27PM JST

Mike's right, Japan-a-lympics is pretty heavily leaned to Japan events.

Ebisen's right, The Romanian beat herself.

I liked her better, also the match that she, Caprioriu, had Before Matsumoto with the Hungarian was better imo. Also, tho bothe were dead tired, the match w/the Hungarian went into overtime, and went the full 3 mins of overtime. Caprioriu might've won against Matsumoto if not exhausted.

Whatever, imo the judo matches this time are even more avoidance based pushing matches than before, and not very interesting.
-2

MrsT1Jul. 31, 2012 - 11:09PM JST

Lowly, negative much? Every country will focus their Olympic coverage on the home athletes, it's what most the locals want and it's also respectful to give your home athletes this coverage. Also, I'm kind of disappointed the Romanian disqualified herself before Matsumoto could beat her. Matsumoto was clearly the stronger and more aggressive player in that match and she was out to win it. Love it!
-4

JeffLeeAug. 01, 2012 - 06:20AM JST

Are there any other countries in the Olympics? I can't tell from watching NHK.

Japan-a-lympics is pretty heavily leaned to Japan events.

NHK and other Japanese newscasts usually don't mention the other medalists in the events Japanese athletes win medals, in individual events. A standard line is: "Taro Suzuki won the silver in the XXX event." So who won the gold and bronze? Doesn't matter. If the competitor isn't Japanese, they don't get mentioned, as if their sole reason for existence is to serve as a nameless sparring partner for the Japanese athlete.

The exception is for super-super stars like Phelps or that Chinese swimmer, who get the occasional mention.
1

SerranoAug. 01, 2012 - 06:35AM JST

"illegal attack from behind"

Heck, if attacks from behind were illegal in sumo, we wouldn't have any okuri-dashi wins!