PARIS, July 29 (Xinhua) -- World No. 1 Christa Deguchi of Canada eased past South Korea's Huh Mi-mi in the women's judo 57kg final to clinch her first Olympic gold here on Monday.
Despite having lost to Huh at the 2024 World Championships, 28-year-old Deguchi kept her balance as Huh tried to execute throws several times, and ultimately took victory on the Olympic stage.
"After missing the Tokyo Olympics, I trained harder to manage the Olympic stage. The gold medal gave me confidence and a sense of relief," said Deguchi, who switched to represent Canada from Japan in 2014.
"The semifinal and final were very tough. I was quite lucky for the win, but I didn't like the way I won. I'm quite proud of myself that I didn't give up and kept going to the end," she added.
France's Sarah Leonie Cysique and Haruka Funakubo of Japan shared the category's bronze medal. China's Cai Qi was eliminated in the round of 32.
In the men's 73kg category, the host nation's Olympic debutant Joan-Benjamin Gaba, world No. 35, sailed into the final but failed to defeat world champion Hidayet Heydarov of Azerbaijan, who claimed gold.
After the final, Heydarov hugged family and friends, celebrating Azerbaijan's second Olympic judo gold in history, "This victory is not only mine, but for my entire country. My next goal is to win a second gold medal at the next Olympics."
Gaba, who hadn't won any golds in the IJF World Championships or World Tour before, showed his spectacular power on Monday. "I believed in myself, I have a lot of respect for my opponents, and I hope to win the gold medal in the next Olympics," said the 23-year-old.
The bronze medal was shared by Adil Osmanov from Moldova and world No. 2 Soichi Hashimoto of Japan. ■
