Praise floods in for Japan's Abe Uta following Olympic defeat

Japan's defending Olympic judo champion Abe Uta was flooded with praise after losing the women's -52kg to Diyora Keldiyorova of Uzbekistan.

On Sunday (28 July), the four-time world champion left the mat in tears as her coach consoled her following her crushing defeat.

Uta was helped out of the Champ-de-Mars Arena as the crowd showed their support by chanting: "Uta! Uta! Uta!"

The devastation was soon shared across social media, with many flooding the athlete with praise. It marked Uta's first loss since 2019.

"Heartbreaking but she will bounce back for sure," one person wrote, while another added: "You will come back stronger."

The footage made many others emotional, with a third tweeting: "Uta Abe. Oh my god, I have never ever seen someone in so much pain after a loss before."

While Uta did not speak to the media, Japan's head coach Masuchi Katsuyuki said the defeat would "take time" to "get over".

"She was sobbing uncontrollably after stepping off the tatami, and she cried a lot in the athletes' room," Katsuyuki said.

"She was very down, so I couldn't say anything to her. All I could do was gently pat her back to console her. It's something that will take time."

"The Olympic Games was something Uta herself had been intensely focussed on since last year. This match made me feel the fear of competition once again. Everyone was expecting Uta to win, but this match taught us how difficult it is to defend a title and achieve back-to-back victories."

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