Photo/Illutration Akira Sone, left, defeats Idalys Ortiz of Cuba in the final match of the Tokyo Olympics’ women’s +78kg division in judo at the Nippon Budokan on July 30. (Kazuhiro Nagashima)

At 162 centimeters tall, heavyweight Akira Sone is one of the smallest judoka competing in the women’s +78-kilogram weight division at the Tokyo Olympics.

To overcome her height disadvantage and defeat opponents who are taller and heavier, Sone, 21, lives by a simple motto: Work three times as hard as others.

This wisdom, passed down by famed judoka Masahiko Kimura, is something that Sone took to heart. She puts in five hours of training every day. In addition to three regular training sessions, she also takes part in nighttime “randori” training sessions.

“It's not ‘three times.’ She work five or six times as hard as others,” says her proud father, Yukio.

He is so impressed with his daughter's achievements that he sometimes looks at her and thinks: “She is great. She is a beast!”

Sone, who is at the top of game, continually hones her skills and style, which is to keep moving steadily.

Backed by her hours of relentless practice, Sone on July 30 defeated all her opponents by ippon without losing a point up until the final match.

The final opponent was Cuban veteran Idalys Ortiz, who is 31 and has won medals at three consecutive Olympics, the first being in 2008 in Beijing.

Ortiz, who has a more than 10-cm height advantage over Sone, is generally feared by her opponents as she is always in control in the heaviest category for women.

But Sone was totally up for the challenge, fighting mano-a-mano.

Sone threw a wide variety of “waza” moves against Ortiz to seize the initiative.

After eight minutes and 52 seconds, Ortiz received her third “shido,” making Sone the new Olympic champion.

“It is unbelievable,” Sone said in tears afterward.

Sone is the first Japanese judoka to win gold in the women’s heavyweight division since Maki Tsukada emerged victorious at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Sone’s victory gave the Japanese judo team its ninth gold medal, a record-breaking achievement.

The team's tally accounts for more than half of the 17 gold medals that the entire Japanese Olympic delegation has won in this Olympics to date, the most ever.

The previous record was 16 at the Athens Olympics and the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

(This article was written by Shuhei Nomura and Kenichi Hado.)

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