Naohisa Takato made amend of his failure to claim a gold medal at Rio 2016 after he captured Japan’s first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics with a win over Taiwan’s Yang Yung Wei in the men’s under-60 kg final at Nippon Budokan on Saturday.
Takato’s victory came shortly after Funa Tonaki claimed silver in the women’s under-48 kg to give Japan it’s first medal of the games.
Nerves got the best of Takato at the Rio Games in 2016, where he left with a bronze medal. After being selected to the team for the 2020 Games, he said one of his goals was to compete with more poise on the mat.
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He showed that against Yang, earning an ippon victory in the golden score period.
Takato had to survive a grueling semifinal match against Kazakhstan’s Yeldos Smetov to claim his spot in the final.
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