Japan finished the Paris Olympics in third place with 20

Before the Paris Olympics, Japanese Olympic Committee Secretary Mitsuki Ogata told the media that Japan’s goal was to win 55 medals, including 20 gold medals. Although the Japanese team fell short of the former by 10 medals, they did reach the podium 20 times, ranking third in the medal table. This is an impressive performance for a country that has won the most gold medals in an Olympics other than Tokyo, as the country’s previous best result in an Olympics other than Tokyo was 16 gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Friday: Two wrestling gold medals and a breakthrough win for Ami Yuasa

Heading into the final three days of competition, Japan was tied with Britain and South Korea for the top spot in the medal standings, with a total of 13. Japan’s success in surpassing those two countries, as well as France and Australia, was largely due to its wrestlers. On Friday, Tsugumi Sakurai and Rei Higuchi won gold medals in the 57kg freestyle wrestling category, defeating Anastasia Nikita of Moldova and Spencer Lee of the United States, respectively.

That same evening, Yuasa Ami Becoming the first breakdancing gold medalist at the Olympics. The 25-year-old, known to fans as B-girl Ami, defeated Dominika Banevič of Lithuania in the final. The 16 female contestants competed in a one-on-one competition, in which they demonstrated “power moves” such as twirls and flashes to music they did not know beforehand.

Yuasa’s compatriot Ayumi Fukushima was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Japan’s other medalist on Friday was Write it down Comfort, He finished second in the men’s combined climbing competition behind Britain’s Toby Roberts.. The 17-year-old Chiba Prefecture native is Finally on the lead line, hopefully with the win. Seeing the gold coming, Favorite competition Then A sharp decline.

Saturday: Kitaguchi Haruka and Motoki Sakura win

Japan won six more medals on Saturday, including two golds. Kitaguchi became the first Japanese woman to reach the podium in a field event. Her first throw of 65.80 meters was enough to win the javelin final. A fifth throw of 64.73 meters would have also given her the title. Kitaguchi, who trains in the Czech Republic, won last year’s world championships in Budapest.

Japan’s other gold medal of the night came from Sakura Motoki, who won the women’s 62kg freestyle wrestling final with a technical advantage over Ukraine’s Irina Kolyadenko. However, in the men’s 74kg freestyle wrestling final, Daichi Takaya was a disappointment, losing to Uzbekistan’s Razhambek Zamarov and only taking the silver medal.

Three more Japanese athletes won silver medals on Saturday, including Daishu Sato in the men’s modern pentathlon, who finished behind Ahmed Elgendi of Egypt. It was Japan’s first medal in that sport. Rikuto Tamai also became the country’s first medalist in the men’s 10-meter platform diving. He finished second behind Cao Yuan of China, who has made the podium at four consecutive Olympics.

China also defeated Japan in the women’s table tennis team final. Hina Hayata, Miu Harimoto and Miu Hirano fought hard against Wang Manyu, Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng, but lost 3-0. It was China’s fifth straight victory in the event. China has won all but one of the women’s events since table tennis was introduced at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Nakai Naruyuki and Yamashita Miyu narrowly missed medals in the men’s chipping and women’s golf events on Saturday.

Sunday: Kotaro Kiyooka and Yuka Kagami ensure Japan finishes smoothly at Paris Olympics

On the final day of the Paris Olympics, Japan won two more gold medals, surpassing Australia in the medal table. The first gold medal came from Kotaro Kiyooka in the men’s 65 yards He defeated Iranian Rahman Ahmouzad 10-3 in the final. Kiyooka’s victory came two days after his childhood friend Sakurai won. “We were able to maintain a good relationship and win gold medals together at the Olympics,” he said. explain After the finals.

Japan’s 20th and final gold medal of the Games came from Yuka Kagami, who became the first Japanese female wrestler to win an Olympic title in the heaviest weight class. She defeated Kennedy Blades of the United States 3-1 in the 76 kg final. Her victory means Japan has won a record eight gold medals in wrestling.

In the women’s marathon, Yuka Suzuki of Japan finished sixth in 2:24:02. Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands won the race, earning her third medal of the Games. She also won bronze medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m. The women’s basketball competition ended with the United States defeating France by one point. The United States topped the medal table with a larger number of silver medals, ahead of China.

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