Two gold medals in judo were handed out on Monday afternoon at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and while Japan captured one top prize in its native martial art, the other went to Russia, as an unheralded judoka rose up to shock the world.
In the women's 57-kg division, Japan's Kaori Matsumoto claimed gold for the sport's homeland when she defeated Corina Caprioriu of Portugal. Caprioriu, who was picked before the Games as a bronze medalist by Sports Ilutstrated, gave Matsumoto all she handle, but wound up succumbing in the end to SI's pre-Olympic gold medal favorite. The bout came down to a golden score round, where Caprioriu was disqualified on a safety violation after taking Matsumoto down face first.
In the men's 73-kg final, Mansur Isaev of Russia delivered a major surprise when he defeated Japan's Riki Nakaya for the gold medal. Isaev was not projected to medal in Sports Illustrated's Olympic preview issue, but advanced to the gold medal bout after running through a list of opponents that included pre-Olympic favorite Wang Ki-chun of South Korea. In the final against Nakaya, Isaev looked to score an early submission attempt when he locked up Nakaya in an armbar, but Nakaya was able to force a stalemate. Nakaya wasn't able to prevent a yuko-scoring takedown by Isaev later in the round, though, and while he was able to reverse position and look for an advantage on the mat, he wasn't able to make good on the position.
Japan has now captured four medals in judo at this summer's Olympics, and is well on its way to matching or beating the total of seven from 2008. Russia, meanwhile, now has two gold medals in judo after failing to medal in the sport in 2008.
