It was nearly a perfect stage for Japan’s Kiyou Shimizu: The Olympics, in her home country, as her sport makes its long-anticipated debut at Nippon Budokan — the mecca for martial arts in Japan.
For Shimizu — who came up short in the women’s kata final against Spaniard Sandra Sanchez Jaime on Thursday night — silver was not the result she was hoping for and that may sting for a while.
It is often said that no matter how many global events an athlete has competed in and no matter how many titles they’ve won, the Olympics is a different animal and it’s difficult for many to perform at their best on the biggest stage in sports.