Half-Lightweight (≤66 kilograms), Men

João Nunes Júnior (BRA) had won the last two World Championships but he was upset in his second match by Portugal’s Pedro Dias. The defending gold medalist was Japan’s Masato Uchishiba, who had been runner-up at the 2005 Worlds. He made it to the final, where he faced France’s Benjamin Darbelet, who was 2003 European Champion and had won five medals at the Europeans. Uchishiba defended his gold medal with ippon in 1:08, and then commented, “I don’t remember how I won the game. Naturally, my body moved and I put in all my effort. My judo style is aggressive so I just fight with what I have.” Cuba’s Yordanis Arencibia, silver medalist at the 2007 Worlds, claimed his second consecutive Olympic bronze medal after throwing Alim Gadanov of Russia for a yuko.

Uchishiba’s aggressive style was not always limited to the judo mats. In February 2013 he was convicted of raping a student he had been coaching. The incident occurred in 2011 and Uchishiba maintained that it was consensual sex, but the court ruled that he had assaulted her while she was asleep and he was sentenced to five years in prison.