PARIS, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Japan's judo veteran Hifumi Abe successfully defended his Olympic title in the men's 66kg category at Paris 2024, while Diyora Keldiyorova of Uzbekistan claimed the country's first-ever Olympic judo gold in the women's 52kg final here on Sunday.
In the men's 66kg event, Olympic debutant Willian Lima of Brazil, ranked 16th in the world, beat Kazakhstan's Gusman Kyrgyzbayev in golden score to book a final place. Tokyo Olympic champion Abe won a fierce semifinal over world No. 1 Denis Vieru of Moldova by an ippon.
The final witnessed four-time world champion Abe beat Lima by two waza-ari within three minutes to gift Japan its second gold at the Paris Olympics. The bronze medal was shared by Kyrgyzbayev and Vieru.
In the women's 52kg final, world No. 1 Keldiyorova defeated Kosovo's Distria Krasniqi, who had been crowned in the 48kg category at the Tokyo Olympics, to earn Uzbekistan's first-ever Olympic gold in judo.
Larissa Pimenta of Brazil and France's Amandine Buchard shared the third place. Tokyo Olympic champion Uta Abe, younger sister of Hifumi Abe, failed to reach the final eight by losing to Keldiyorova, while China's Zhu Yeqing was eliminated in the round of 32.
