Uta Abe (阿部 詩, Abe Uta, born 14 July 2000) is a Japanese judoka who competes in the Women's half-lightweight (52 kg) division.[1] She won the gold medal in the Women's 52 kg competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics and two silver medals in a row with the Japanese team in the judo mixed team events at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.[2][3] Abe is also a four-time world champion, having won the gold medal in her weight category at the World Judo Championships in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
She rose to prominence after winning her first senior gold medal, aged just 16, at the 2017 Judo Grand Prix Düsseldorf, thus becoming the youngest IJF senior competition winner in history.[4][5]
Personal life
editUta Abe is the younger sister of another stellar judoka, Hifumi Abe, who competes in the Men's 66 kg division. He's a double Olympic champion, having won two consecutive gold medals in his weight category at the Summer Olympics (2020 and 2024), as well as a four-time world champion.[6][7][8][9]
Judo career
editAbe became the youngest ever Judoka to win an IJF (International Judo Federation) Grand Prix, when she captured first place at the Düsseldorf Grand Prix in February 2017.[10]
Abe participated at the 2018 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan and won her first world title at 18 years of age, making her the third-youngest Judoka to ever capture a senior World title.[11] Abe firstly defeated Polish judoka Karolina Pieńkowska and Fabienne Kocher of Switzerland. She then defeated Jéssica Pereira of Brazil and in the semi-finals she defeated Amandine Buchard of France in under 40 seconds, by armlock to make her way into the finals. In the finals, Abe was matched with teammate and former-world champion Ai Shishime,[12] and defeated Shishime with a spectacular uchi-mata in golden score for ippon.[13]
In 2021, Abe won the gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on the same day that her older brother Hifumi won the gold medal in his judo division.[14]
Abe won the gold medal in the women's 52 kg event at the 2023 World Judo Championships held in Doha, Qatar. She was defeated by Diyora Keldiyorova of Uzbekistan in the second round of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.[15]
References
edit- ^ "Uta ABE / IJF.org". ijf.org. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "2020 Summer Olympics — Judo - Women 52 kg Schedule". Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
- ^ "ABE Uta". Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Abe makes history with Grand Prix win". Japan Times. 25 February 2017. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ "Abe triumphs over Hashiguchi at Grand Slam Tokyo". Japan Times. 2 December 2016. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ "Hifumi Abe and sister Uta top podium at Grand Slam Tokyo". Japan Times. 3 December 2017. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Judo - Men -66 kg Schedule". Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^ "ABE Hifumi". Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ NEWS, KYODO. "Olympics: Hifumi Abe wins 2nd straight Olympic men's 66-kg judo gold". Kyodo News+. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ "Abe makes history with Grand Prix win". Japan Times. 25 February 2017. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Uta Abe makes miracles come true with World title". judoinside.com. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Uta Abe and Ai Shishime on track for Japanese final". judoinside.com. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "2018 World Judo Championships –52 kg results". judolive01.lb.judobase.org. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Olympics: Japan's Abe siblings complete historic judo double", Kyodo News, 25 July 2021
- ^ Watta, Evelyn (28 July 2024). "Paris 2024 Olympics: Defending champion Abe Uta gets loudest cheers despite shocking loss". olympics.com. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
External links
edit
Media related to Uta Abe at Wikimedia Commons
- Uta Abe at the International Judo Federation
- Uta Abe at JudoInside.com
- Uta Abe at Olympedia
- Uta Abe at Olympics.com
- Uta Abe at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
- Uta Abe at The-Sports.org
- Uta Abe on Instagram
