Japan's men saved their bombshell for the heavyweight curtain closing act.
Satoshi Ishii brought redemption to the men by capturing gold in the over 100-kg event Friday, defeating Abdullo Tangriev of Uzbekistan to follow in the footsteps of Athens champion Keiji Suzuki and give Japan back-to-back Olympic titles in the heaviest division.
But the women could not stop the tidal wave of thousands of cheering Chinese as Tong Wen defeated defending champion Maki Tsukada in the women's over 78-kg category with a dramatic ippon in the dying seconds of the match at Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium.