Shohei Ono destroyed Lasha Shavdatuashvili of Georgia in the final of U73 kg category at the third day of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Shavdatuashvili was the Olympic champion eight years ago in London U66kg and then a bronze medallist in 2016 in Rio, now he added a silver to his collection.
Ono seemed impossible to throw. That sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi exploded from nowhere, like a single brushstroke of black ink on the paper to draw a perfect Japanese character.
Watching #ShoheiOno win GOLD for Japan in #Judo was, put simply, watching an artist at work. pic.twitter.com/6aNZnqWxBX
— Dale Elster (@DaleElster) July 26, 2021
The victory awarded, Ono and Shavdatuashvili showed a profound respect to one another and then left the mat.
Only then did a smile appear on Ono’s face. He is Olympic champion for the second time and nothing seems to be able to stop him.
Ono can continue for a hattrick in Paris in just three years.
“When I won my first Olympic title I was young. Today, and after years of defeating everyone, I can tell you that it wasn’t easy. I’m also very happy because during all these years I managed to stay in my weight category, and this is also an achievement”, Ono said after his triumph in Tokyo.