SYDNEY -- Makoto Takimoto won Japan's third gold medal of the Sydney Games on Tuesday night with two of the best bouts of the Olympic tournament so far.

The Japanese champion showed unshakable composure to snatch gold in the under-81-kg class by defeating World Championship bronze medalist and Atlanta silver medalist Cho In Chul of South Korea in a grueling matchup that sent both fighters cartwheeling around the mat for the full five minutes.

But first Takimoto had to survive the battle of the iceman versus the madman, another five minute scrap with defending Olympic champion Djamel Bouras of France in which he copped an elbow in the eye that sent him sprawling to the mat.

"Today I finally got it. It was a bit like revenge," Takimoto said, referring losses by teammates Yukimasa and Kenzo Nakamura on Sunday and Monday, as well as Keiko Maeda's shock loss earlier Tuesday.

He disposed of Cho, punched the air with both fists and leaped into the arms of his coach at the Sydney Exhibition Center after helping Japan draw even with its Atlanta haul of three gold medals, in one of the most competitive categories in judo.

Known for coming through in big bouts but also for having bad days too, Takimoto lifted Cho onto his shoulders and slammed him down on his side for a "yuko" early in the bout.

He then swept out the 1997 world champion's leg for a "koka" with 1 minute, 1 second left on the clock, and scored a second "yuko" to cement his win with 39 seconds left.

In the semifinals, the Japan Racing Association office clerk showed just how tough a salaryman can be when Bouras' elbow caught him in the right eye before either had scored.

He dropped to the mat in pain and didn't look as if he was going to get up. Still blinking his stinging eye, he continued the battle with the taller Frenchman, whose aggression was another mark of the day's competition.

But refusing to be shaken despite rubbing his eye whenever the referee broke up the pair, the 25-year-old Ibaraki man hurled Bouras onto his side to score a "waza-ari" with 58 seconds left on the clock. Then he outfoxed Bouras to soak up the last seconds and win by "tai-otoshi waza-ari."

Takimoto, considered by many to be an inconsistent judo genius, won the German International Tournament earlier this year.

His confidence grew with each bout Tuesday, beating Kazakstan's Ruslan Seilkhanov, Gaston Garcia of Algeria and Alvaro Paseyro of Uruguay to make the semifinal. He won two ippons in the first

two of his matches and a "yusei-gachi" win by decision over Paseyro in his third match.

Japan adds Takimoto's gold to those won by Ryoko Tamura in the women's under-48-kg class and Tadahiro Nomura in the under-60-kg class Saturday night.

Earlier in the day, world champion Maeda crashed out of the under-63-kg judo competition in a shock loss to a 32-year-old rank outsider from the U.S. in her first bout.

France's Severine Vandenhende outpointed China's Li Shufang in the final.

Gella Vandecaveye of Belgium shared the bronze medals with South Korean veteran Jung Sung Sook, an Atlanta Olympic bronze medalist.

Maeda, Japan's "ippon queen," was shattered and sat despondently on the mat after her defeat at the hands of New Jersey graphic designer Celita Schutz.

In a double blow for Maeda, Schutz went down to Vandenhende by ippon without getting any score on the board in the very next bout -- eliminating Maeda from the repechage and a shot at a bronze medal.

Maeda blamed the loss on nerves, saying she had been in good condition but buckled under the pressure of competing at the Olympics.

"Before I came here, I was in top form and very confident of winning the gold medal, but after Tamura went on to the mat and won gold, I began feeling very nervous," she said.