Yuki Ota on Wednesday vowed to double his efforts to win the men's individual foil gold medal at the Rio Olympics.

"What I have fallen short of is the gold medal. That is the only thing I will be aiming for," the 2008 Beijing Olympic silver medalist told a news conference in Tokyo.

Ota, 30, won a team silver medal at the 2012 London Games but he was left bitterly disappointed after Japan failed to qualify in the men's team event this time in Rio.

"I was unable to pick up a sword for about a month," said Ota, who hopes to turn things around and win the individual gold for the sake of the sport in Japan, and for his teammates who missed out.

"Fencing in Japan will benefit from me winning the gold medal. For those guys also I want to sign off at the Olympics having battled it out until the very last minute," he said.

Ota took a break after the London Games and returned to competition in the fall of 2013. He became the first Japanese to win a gold medal at the world championships last summer and is heading to his fourth Olympics.

"If I am in peak condition I will be in my best position to win gold out of these four Olympics."