Chelsie Giles claimed Great Britain’s first medal of the Tokyo Olympics, winning bronze by defeating Switzerland’s Fabienne Kocher in the women’s -52kg judo.
The 24-year-old from Coventry, who bagged her first grand slam gold medal in Israel earlier this year, overcame Macedonia’s Arbresha Rexhepi and Morocco’s Soumiya Iraoui to reach the quarter-final, where she was beaten by Japan’s Uta Abe.
However, she was presented with another route to a podium place through the repechage and duly took it, downing Belgium’s Charline van Snick and then Kocher in their bronze medal match, both with Ippon finishes. Giles is currently ranked 10th in the world.
The Olympics Judo tournament is being held at the Nippon Budokan, considered the the spiritual home of the sport. After securing the bronze medal, Giles said: “I believed I could do it, my coach has always believed I could and it showed in today’s performance. It feels very special to do it in Japan. It’s an amazing arena and the atmosphere was amazing. To do it where Japan started the sport, it makes it extra special.”
It marked an uplift in fortunes for Team GB on the second full day of the Games, after Andy Murray pulled out of the men’s singles tennis through injury, and Jade Jones made a shock exit in her first bout as she defending her taekwondo Olympic title.
Reflecting on her medal achievement, Giles said: “A small mistake cost me the match [in the quarter-final], but I was happy with the rest of the performance. Firstly, I’ll take a break and take a few weeks’ rest. I’m sure we’ll be back to training in no time.”
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Abe siblings both triumph in golden day for Japan
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Japanese judoka Uta Abe (pictured) triumphed in the women’s 52kg category in Tokyo on Sunday, hours before her brother Hifumi took gold in the men’s 66kg final, making history as the first siblings to win gold medals on the same day.
The feat came a day after triple world champion judoka Naohisa Takato secured Japan’s first gold medal with victory over Taiwan’s Yang Yung-wei, underscoring the strength of the host nation at the sport born here 140 years ago.
In a bright start to the Games for Japan amid a resurgence of the coronavirus outbreak, its team secured two further golds on Sunday, in swimming and skateboarding.
Uta, 21, dominated her bouts in the 52kg category, but was taken deep into golden score overtime in the final against Amandine Buchard of France, eventually pinning her down on her back and holding on for the win.
“This was a dream for us,” Uta told reporters, when asked about achieving simultaneous golds with her brother. “It makes me believe dream comes true as long as I try to achieve it.”
Uta and Hifumi hugged and congratulated each other after the post-match ceremony, she said, adding that her brother always goes ahead of her to lead the way.
“I was touched by how they encouraged each other,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Twitter in congratulating the Abes. The bronze medals went to Odette Giuffrida of Italy and Chelsie Giles of Britain.
In the men’s final, Hifumi Abe, 23, defeated Georgia’s Vazha Margvelashvili to take gold. Bronze medals went to Baul An of South Korea and Daniel Cargnin of Brazil.
“I didn’t feel any pressure but rather it made me crave for it,” Hifumi told reporters, when asked how Uta’s gold medal affected his performance in the final. “Today is the best day of my life.” Reuters
Britain’s women, with Gemma Gibbons, Karina Bryant and Sally Conway, have won judo medals in the last three Olympics, but this is the first medal in this category since Sharon Rendle’s gold at Seoul in 1988.
Giles had praise for friends and family, and for the sports organisers in the UK, saying that “It’s been really important to have the support of friends and family. When I’ve had not so good days, or it’s been hard to motivate myself, they’ve always had my back. Especially British Judo, UK Sport, these are people I couldn’t get here without.”
Team GB are also guaranteed at least a silver medal after Bradly Sinden made the final of the men’s -68kg taekwondo where he faces Ulugbek Rashitov of Uzbekistan.