Half-Heavyweight (≤78 kilograms), Women

US judoka Kayla Harrison became the first American, and one of only 11 athletes in the sport, to successfully defend an Olympic judo title by winning her second gold in Rio. The enigmatic Harrison had suffered years of sexual abuse by one of her previous coaches. Later she founded Fearless, an organization helping other victims of sexual abuse, and after her second gold medal, the media speculated that she would exploit her popularity to become a Mixed Martial Arts professional, which she did in October 2016.

Although she was the lightest competitor in the field, it took Harrison, the world and Pan American Games champion, a total of only 8:04 min of fighting to win her four bouts, all prematurely by an Ippon (full point) with hold down and lock techniques. In the final she held second-seeded Audrey Tcheumeo of France just seconds before the four minutes elapsed in an Ude-hishigi-juji-gatame (cross lock) forcing her to tap out. In the semi-final, London 2012 bronze medalist Tcheumeo eliminated home favorite Mayra da Silva, who was also a 2012 bronze medalist. Da Silva, Harrison’s toughest rival over the years, won her second bronze medal while Slovenia’s Ana Velenšek,who fell victim to Harrison in the semi-final, won her first Olympic bronze. The reigning World Champion, Mami Umeki from Japan already dropped out after the first bout.