Put a gold up on the mantelpiece for Japanese women's judo. This one was a thing of beauty.
Ayumi Tanimoto hit the jackpot with a successful defense of her Olympic title in the women's 63-kg weight category Tuesday, defeating Frenchwoman Lucie Decosse with a perfectly executed ippon in the final at the Beijing Games.
By stark contrast, it was another day in the doldrums for Japanese men, with Takashi Ono losing his first match in the 81-kg category against reigning world champion Tiago Camilo of Brazil and failing to advance to the repechage stage.
Tanimoto, the 2007 world bronze medalist, threw down Decosse with a brilliant inner-leg sweep as this year's European champion went flying into the attack, and proved herself the queen of the mats at Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium.
In the semifinals, Tanimoto scored a "yuko" on an inner-leg trip of three-time world champion Driulis Gonzalez of Cuba before using her third grappling hold of the day to win by ippon.
Starting off the day, Tanimoto countered an attack by Venezuelan Ysis Barreto in her first match, manhandling her opponent to get a mount before placing her in an ironclad submission hold.
Falling behind a point for inactivity in her second match, Tanimoto was never fazed as she proceeded to execute the same power-lifting feat, this time twisting over South Korea's Kong Ja Young on the mat before immobilizing her with a rear pinning technique.
Starting in Athens when she made her Olympic debut, Tanimoto has won all matches in the Summer Games by ippon.
