SYDNEY -- Japan's dream start on the Olympic judo mat stumbled Sunday night when world champion Noriko Narazaki had to settle for the under-52 kg silver in a tightly fought rematch with the woman she defeated to become world champion last year.

Cuba's Legna Verdecia jumped onto her coach's shoulders and waved the Cuban flag after adding a gold to the under-52 kg bronze she won in Atlanta four years ago.

"I had been working hard for four years (since Atlanta) to this day," Narazaki said. "I gave everything I could."

Verdecia flipped Narazaki onto her back after 2 minutes, 19 seconds to claim a "sodetsuri" ippon victory. The '96 Olympic bronze medalist almost won the bout in the opening seconds at the Sydney Exhibition Center, catching Verdecia off guard and twisting her over her lower body. But the 27-year-old Cuban shifted enough that she was not caught flat on her back and Narazaki was only awarded a "wazari."

Narazaki, who won the world championship over Verdecia on penalties in Birmingham, England, last October, had looked unbeatable in her earlier bouts.

Japan Olympic Committee president Yushiro Yagi was watching from the stands as Narazaki seemed set to deliver Japan its third gold medal -- the same number of golds the nation won at the '96 Olympics -- on only the second full day of competition in Sydney. But she was unable to match the feats of Ryoko "Yawara-chan" Tamura, who snatched the gold in the under-48 kg class, and Tadahiro Nomura, who won the under-60 kg class on Saturday.

"Four years ago I lost because of a weakness in my heart," Narazaki said. "I've been trying to conquer that weakness by practicing hard."

Narazaki said she had thought she could withstand the charge that ended the match. "When she came for me, I was prepared. But, surprisingly, she managed to turn me around," Narazaki said.

However, she had not expected the judges to award Verdecia an ippon. "I did not think she had completed the technique. I was very disappointed to lose in such a way. But if they (the judges) say it is an ippon, it must be."

Japan's other gold medal hope, Yakimasa Nakamura, ended his campaign for a second Olympic medal Sunday when he was defeated by Asian champion Arash Miresmaeili of Iran in the repechage bracket.

Nakamura, who won the world championship in 1993 and placed second in 1995, was a favorite going into the competition.

But the Atlanta silver medalist and Asian Games winner in 1998, whose younger brother Kenzo took gold in Atlanta and older brother Yoshio won the 86-kg class at the World Championships in 1993, crashed out of the race for gold in the fourth round, going down to European champion Patrick van Kalken of the Netherlands.

Huseyin Ozkan of Turkey went on to take the gold in a tough victory over world champion Larbi Benboudaoud of France.

Narazaki, 27, won her way into the final by defeating China's Liu, by ippon after rolling her over and locking her arms around her neck for the required 25 seconds. She defeated Salima Souakri of Algeria by "yuko" in the quarterfinals, and showed strength and aggression to overcome Jang Jae Sim of South Korea in the second round, winning by awarded ippon for a submission with a stranglehold, stopping the clock at 3.17.

In the first round, the 157-cm tall Kanazawa woman won by ippon over taller opponent Luce Baillargeon of Canada in 1.49 seconds.

Japan has many more hopes on the judo mat. Kenzo Nakamura, 26, gets a shot at gold in the under-73 kg class Monday when he is expected to meet world champion James Pedro of the U.S. in the quarterfinals.

In Sunday's bronze-medal matches, Olympic champion Kye Sun Hui of North Korea -- who defeated Tamura for gold in the lighter class in Atlanta -- won in the repechage by ippon over Ioana Maria Dinea of Romania.

China's Yuxiang Liu beat Deborah Gravenstijn of the Netherlands by ippon with a submission.

In the men's competition, Girolama Giovinazzo of Italy, who had injured his knee in the previous bout, burst into tears after beating Miresmaeili by a judge's decision. Van Kalken went down to Giorgi Vazagashu of Georgia.

Tamura's golden sleep

SYDNEY (Kyodo) While the rest of Japan savored her long-awaited Olympic glory, Ryoko Tamura cried over her first date with her "first-love" gold medal.

"I slept with my gold medal by the pillow. When I woke up this morning, I was still excited and fascinated with it," Tamura said one day after winning the women's 48-kg championship at the Sydney Olympics.

"I cried alone after returning to my room at the athletes' village, thinking about a number of things that have happened in my career," Tamura said.

The frenzied Japanese media left Tamura with only two hours' sleep, with requests from major television networks for live appearances keeping her in their studios until 3 a.m. in the morning.

"The memories I've had since I took up judo as an 8-year-old did not stop running around in my head. I felt like I was still dreaming until I went to bed," said the 25-year-old.