|
| Event type

Half-Heavyweight (≤78 kilograms), Women

Date29 July 2021
StatusOlympic
LocationNippon Budokan, Chiyoda, Tokyo
Participants24 from 24 countries

The three top seeded judoka in the women’s half-heavyweight category had a history of fighting each other in the finals of prestigious events. Madeleine Malonga, representing France, lost to the German Anna-Maria Wagner for the world title in 2021, but defeated Japan’s Shori Hamada in the 2019 World Championships and 2021 World Masters. However, at the Tokyo Olympics, gold went to Hamada on home soil, the first for Japan in this division since 2004. In the semi-final it took her only 1:23 min to throw Wagner with an Ude-hishigi-juji-gatame (back-lying perpendicular arm bar) for an Ippon (full point). In the final against Malonga, the end of the fight came after only 1:09 min. A misjudged attempt by Malonga allowed Hamada to surprise her with counter-attack scoring an Ippon for a Kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame (broken upper four quarter hold down). Both finallists got that far after winning all their previous contests by Ippon, with Hamada defeating four top ten seeds.

Wagner returned to claim bronze. She held on to a Waza-ari (half-point) scored after 1:50 min until the end of the fight against the Cuban Kaliema Antomarchi. Several of the highly ranked athletes like the Dutch Guusje Steenhuis, bronze medallist at the 2021 World Championships, were eliminated early and did not even make it into the top eight. Only veteran Mayra Aguiar, already a four-time Olympian, and an incredibly consistent competitor at major events, took her third bronze medal in a row pinning the Korean Yun Hyun-Ji. A heavy favourite in Rio in 2016, she had to settle for bronze but, in Tokyo, the Porto Alegre athlete won an unexpected bronze, just days before her 30th birthday.

PosCompetitorNOC
1Shori HamadaJPNGold
2Madeleine MalongaFRASilver
=3Anna-Maria WagnerGERBronze
=3Mayra AguiarBRABronze
=5Kaliema AntomarchiCUB
=5Yun Hyun-JiKOR
=7Guusje SteenhuisNED
=7Aleksandra BabintsevaROC
=9Bernadette GrafAUT
=9Karla ProdanCRO
=9Natalie PowellGBR
=9Inbar LanirISR
=9Loriana KukaKOS
=9Beata PacutPOL
=9Patrícia SampaioPOR
=9Anastasiya TurchynUKR
=17Ma ZhenzhaoCHN
=17Marie BranserCOD
=17Vanessa ChaláECU
=17Sarah MazouzGAB
=17Otgon MönkhtsetsegMGL
=17Jovana PekovićMNE
=17Nefeli PapadakisUSA
=17Karen LeónVEN

Round One

Date29 July 2021 — 11:00
FormatWinners advance to round two.
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #129 Jul 11:00Madeleine MalongaFRAbye
Match #229 Jul 11:07Mat 2Bernadette GrafAUTIpponMa ZhenzhaoCHN
Match #329 Jul 11:14Kaliema AntomarchiCUBbye
Match #429 Jul 11:21Mat 2Karla ProdanCROWaza-ariJovana PekovićMNE
Match #529 Jul 11:28Guusje SteenhuisNEDbye
Match #629 Jul 11:35Mat 2Anastasiya TurchynUKRIpponVanessa ChaláECU
Match #729 Jul 11:42Natalie PowellGBRbye
Match #829 Jul 11:49Mat 2Yun Hyun-JiKORIpponNefeli PapadakisUSA
Match #929 JulShori HamadaJPNbye
Match #1029 JulMat 2Beata PacutPOLIpponSarah MazouzGAB
Match #1129 JulLoriana KukaKOSbye
Match #1229 JulMat 2Aleksandra BabintsevaROCIpponMarie BranserCOD
Match #1329 JulAnna-Maria WagnerGERbye
Match #1429 JulMat 2Patrícia SampaioPORIpponKaren LeónVEN
Match #1529 JulMayra AguiarBRAbye
Match #1629 JulMat 2Inbar LanirISRIpponOtgon MönkhtsetsegMGL

Round Two

Date29 July 2021 — 11:56
FormatWinners advance to quarter-finals.
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #129 Jul 11:56Mat 2Madeleine MalongaFRAIpponBernadette GrafAUT
Match #229 Jul 12:03Mat 2Kaliema AntomarchiCUBWaza-ariKarla ProdanCRO
Match #329 Jul 12:10Mat 2Guusje SteenhuisNEDWaza-ariAnastasiya TurchynUKR
Match #429 Jul 12:17Mat 2Yun Hyun-JiKORIpponNatalie PowellGBR
Match #529 Jul 12:24Mat 2Shori HamadaJPNIpponBeata PacutPOL
Match #629 Jul 12:41Mat 2Aleksandra BabintsevaROCWaza-ariLoriana KukaKOS
Match #729 Jul 12:48Mat 2Anna-Maria WagnerGERIpponPatrícia SampaioPOR
Match #829 Jul 12:55Mat 2Mayra AguiarBRAIpponInbar LanirISR

Quarter-Finals

Date29 July 2021 — 13:02
FormatWinners advance to semi-finals. Losers advance to repêchage for bronze medal tournament.
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #129 Jul 13:02Mat 2Madeleine MalongaFRAIpponKaliema AntomarchiCUB
Match #229 Jul 13:09Mat 2Yun Hyun-JiKORIpponGuusje SteenhuisNED
Match #329 Jul 13:16Mat 2Shori HamadaJPNIpponAleksandra BabintsevaROC
Match #429 Jul 13:23Mat 2Anna-Maria WagnerGERWaza-ariMayra AguiarBRA

Repêchage

Date29 July 2021 — 17:00
FormatWinners advance to bronze medal matches.
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #129 Jul 17:00Mat 1Kaliema AntomarchiCUBIpponGuusje SteenhuisNED
Match #229 Jul 17:08Mat 1Mayra AguiarBRAIpponAleksandra BabintsevaROC

Semi-Finals

Date29 July 2021 — 17:17
FormatWinners advance to gold medal final. Losers advance to bronze medal matches.
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #129 Jul 17:25Mat 1Madeleine MalongaFRAIpponYun Hyun-JiKOR
Match #229 Jul 17:17Mat 1Shori HamadaJPNIpponAnna-Maria WagnerGER

Final Round

Date29 July 2021 — 18:18
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match 3/529 Jul 18:18Mat 1Anna-Maria WagnerGERWaza-ariKaliema AntomarchiCUB
Match 3/529 Jul 18:28Mat 1Mayra AguiarBRAIpponYun Hyun-JiKOR
Match 1/229 Jul 18:38Mat 1Shori HamadaJPNIpponMadeleine MalongaFRA