Japan’s Paris 2024 Olympic Medalists

Japan’s Medalists at Paris 2024

Total   ■ Gold 20  ■ Silver 12  ■ Bronze 13

August 11

■ Gold  Kagami Yūka (Wrestling: Women’s freestyle 76-kilogram)

On her Olympic debut, Kagami overcame Kennedy Blades of the United States to win the gold, which was Japan’s first ever medal in this weight class. Japan finished with 11 wrestling medals at Paris 2024, of which 8 were gold.

■ Gold  Kiyooka Kōtarō (Wrestling: Men’s freestyle 65-kilogram)

In his first Olympics, Kiyooka clinched gold with a 10-3 victory over Rahman Amouzad of Iran in the final, matching the winning performance at Tokyo 2020 by Japanese wrestler Otoguro Takuto.

August 10

■ Gold  Motoki Sakura (Wrestling: Women’s freestyle 62-kilogram)

Motoki won a tight semifinal against Grace Bullen of Norway before overcoming Iryna Koliadenko of Ukraine 12-1 in the final.

■ Gold  Kitaguchi Haruka (Athletics: Women’s javelin throw)

Coming into Paris 2024, Kitaguchi had a reputation for winning on her last throw, but won the final with her first throw of 65.80. She is Japan’s first medal winner in a women’s field event.

■ Silver  Takatani Daichi (Men’s freestyle 74-kilogram)

Takatani was defeated by Razambek Zhamalov of Uzbekistan in the final, but earned Japan’s first medal in the event since 1996.

■ Silver  Satō Taishū (Men’s modern pentathlon)

Satō showed off his sporting versatility, becoming Japan’s first medal winner in the event.

■ Silver  Hirano Miu, Hayata Hina, Harimoto Miwa (Table tennis: Women’s team)

The Japanese team lost 3-0 to China in the final, but preserved its record of consecutive medal-winning performances since the London Olympics in 2012.

■ Silver  Tamai Rikuto (Diving: Men’s 10-meter platform)

The 17-year-old became the first Japanese medal winner in the men’s 10-meter platform event.

August 9

■ Gold  Yuasa Ami (Breaking: B-Girls)

Competing as Ami, the Japanese dancer won gold in this new event at Paris 2024. Her dynamic performance saw her overcome Nicka of Lithuania 3-0 in the final.

■ Gold  Sakurai Tsugumi (Wrestling: Women’s freestyle 57-kilogram)

The world number one Sakurai defeated world number two Anastasia Nichita of Moldova in the final 6-0 to win gold at her first Olympics.

■ Gold  Higuchi Rei (Wrestling: Men’s freestyle 57-kilogram)

Higuchi overcame Spencer Lee of the United States 4-2 in the final. Having won silver at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, he came back at Paris 2024 following the disappointment of disqualification from the weigh-in at Tokyo 2020.

■ Silver  Anraku Sorato (Sport climbing: Men’s combined)

Anraku led the pack at the semifinal stage, but fell back to second in the final. The 17-year-old became Japan’s first medal winner in men’s sport climbing, which was introduced at Tokyo 2020.

August 8

■ Gold  Fujinami Akari (Wrestling: Women’s freestyle 53-kilogram)

Fujinami dominated the competition on her Olympic debut, progressing with little difficulty and sealing gold with a 10-0 victory over Lucía Yépez of Ecuador in the final. It is Japan’s first women’s wrestling gold of Paris 2024.

■ Silver  Okada Keiju, Yoshioka Miho (Sailing: Mixed 470)

The Japanese duo was in third place after eight races, but a good performance in the medal race for the top 10 finishers meant they came away with silver.

August 7

■ Bronze  Susaki Yui (Wrestling: Women’s freestyle 50-kilogram)

A shock first-round defeat against Vinesh Phogat of India dashed Susaki’s hope of retaining her Tokyo 2020 title, but she was able to win a bronze through repechage after Vinesh was later disqualified for failing a weigh-in.

■ Gold  Kusaka Nao (Wrestling: Men’s Greco-Roman 77-kilogram)

At the end of the first period of the final, Kusaka was losing 2-0 to Demeu Zhadrayev of Kazakhstan, but he turned it around to finish as a 5-2 winner. Born in 2000, Kusaka’s given name Nao is based on that of Takahashi Naoko, who won Olympic gold in the women’s marathon in Sydney that year.

August 6

■ Bronze  Ozaki Nonoka (Wrestling: Women’s freestyle 68-kilogram)

Ozaki overcame Tokyo 2020 silver-medalist Blessing Oborududu of Nigeria to win her bronze-medal bout.

■ Gold  Fumita Ken’ichirō (Wrestling: Men’s Greco-Roman 60-kilogram)

Having won silver at Tokyo 2020, Fumita went one better in Paris, defeating Cao Liguo of China 4-1 in the final. He also beat Zholaman Sharshenbekov in the semifinal, after losing to the Kyrgyz wrestler in last year’s world championship final.

■ Silver  Hiraki Cocona (Skateboarding: Women’s park)

World number one Hiraki scored a strong 92.63, but Australian skateboarder Arisa Trew achieved a superb 93.18, so Hiraki could only match her Tokyo 2020 silver.

August 5

■ Gold  Oka Shinnosuke (Gymnastics: Men’s horizontal bar)

Oka picked up his third gold medal of Paris 2024 in the horizontal bar hours after winning the bronze in the parallel bars. His flawless performance secured victory with a score of 14.533 as other finalists made mistakes.

■ Bronze  Oka Shinnosuke (Gymnastics: Men’s parallel bars)

Oka’s score of 15.300 earned him a podium finish in third place.

August 4

■ Gold  Shikine Takahiro, Iimura Kazuki, Matsuyama Kyōsuke, Nagano Yūdai (Fencing: Men’s team foil)

Japan overcame the host nation France in the semifinal before beating Italy 45-36 in the final. Substitute Nagano scored five successive points in the eighth period before Iimura ensured victory in the ninth. It is Japan’s fifth fencing medal of Paris 2024.

■ Bronze  Matsuyama Hideki (Golf: Men’s individual)

A strong final round with six birdies and no bogeys helped Matsuyama secure Japan’s first Olympic medal for men’s golf.

August 3

■ Bronze  Emura Misaki, Takashima Risa, Fukushima Shihomi, Ozaki Seri (Fencing: Women’s team sabre)

After losing to eventual champion Ukraine in the semifinal, Japan defeated France in the bronze medal bout to win its fourth fencing medal of the games.

■ Silver  Japan national team (Jūdō: Mixed team)

In a repeat of the Tokyo 2020 final, Japan lost out to France and had to settle for silver. Abe Hifumi, who won gold in his individual event, had the chance to seal victory when Japan was leading 3-1, but lost to Joan-Benjamin Gaba, who won silver in the weight class above. Saitō Tatsuru lost the decisive bout to Teddy Riner.

■ Bronze  Shida Chiharu, Matsuyama Nami (Badminton: Women’s doubles)

Shida and Matsuyama achieved a straight 2-0 victory against Malaysian pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in the bronze medal match.

■ Bronze  Hayata Hina (Table tennis: Women’s singles)

After losing the first game, Hayata came back to win the bronze medal match against Shin Yu-bin of South Korea.

August 2

■ Silver  Kanō Kōki, Minobe Kazuyasu, Komata Akira, Yamada Masaru (Fencing: Men’s team épée)

Japan’s team fell just short of retaining its Tokyo 2020 title, losing out in the final 26-25 to Hungary.

■ Bronze  Watanabe Yūta, Higashino Arisa (Badminton: Mixed doubles)

A 2-0 victory over a South Korean pair in the bronze medal match meant Watanabe and Higashino matched their Tokyo 2020 third-place finish.

August 1

■ Bronze  Azuma Sera, Ueno Yūka, Miyawaki Karin, Kikuchi Komaki (Fencing: Women’s team foil)

A close-won victory in the bronze medal bout against Canada ensured Japan won its first ever medal in women’s fencing.

July 31

■ Gold  Oka Shinnosuke (Gymnastics: Men’s artistic individual all-around)

On his Olympic debut, Oka saw off the challenge of Chinese ace Zhang Boheng and teammate and Tokyo 2020 champion Hashimoto Daiki to take gold. Japanese gymnasts have now won the men’s artistic individual all-around event for four successive Olympics.

■ Silver  Murao Sanshirō (Jūdō: Men’s 90-kilogram)

Olympic newcomer Murao reached the final, but lost out in a close contest against the Tokyo 2020 champion Lasha Bekauri of Georgia.

July 30

■ Gold  Nagase Takanori (Jūdō: Men’s 81-kilogram)

Nagase defeated world champion Tato Grigalashvili of Georgia in the final to retain his Olympic title, becoming the first winner of consecutive gold medals in his weight class. He also won bronze at the 2016 games in Rio.

July 29

■ Gold  Hashimoto Daiki, Kaya Kazuma, Tanigawa Wataru, Oka Shinnosuke, Sugino Takaaki (Gymnastics: Men’s artistic team all-around)

In second place before the final apparatus, Japan finished first in the horizontal bar, overtaking China to take the gold medal. This matched the 2016 team’s title in Rio in a return to winning form after settling for silver at Tokyo 2020.

■ Gold  Horigome Yūto (Skateboarding: Men’s street)

Horigome retained his Olympic title, narrowly securing gold with a stunning score of 97.08 in his fifth and final trick to finish just ahead of US skateboarder Jagger Eaton.

■ Bronze  Hashimoto Sōichi (Jūdō: Men’s 73-kilogram)

An early waza-ari helped Hashimoto to win his bronze-medal match against Akil Gjakova of Kosovo.

■ Bronze  Funakubo Haruka (Jūdō: Women’s 57-kilogram)

After a quarterfinal defeat, Funakubo progressed through the repechage and overcame 2016 Olympic champion Rafaela Silva of Brazil to win bronze.

■ Bronze  Tanaka Toshiyuki, Tomoto Kazuma, Ōiwa Yoshiaki (Equestrian: Team eventing)

With the bronze in this event, Japan won its first equestrian medal since 1932.

July 28

■ Gold  Kanō Kōki (Fencing: Men’s individual épée)

A member of the winning Tokyo 2020 épée team, Kanō secured an individual gold in Paris, beating Yannick Borel of the host nation France in the final, despite the enthusiastic local support.

■ Silver  Matsushita Tomoyuki (Swimming: Men’s 400-meter individual medley)

A powerful finish in the freestyle leg helped Matsushita to earn an unexpected silver medal.

■ Gold  Yoshizawa Coco (Skateboarding: Women’s street)
■ Silver  Akama Liz (Skateboarding: Women’s street)

Nishiya Momiji and Nakayama Fūna won gold and bronze for Japan in the Tokyo 2020 women’s street skateboarding event, and this time it went one better with gold and silver. Akama was leading until Yoshizawa scored a big 96.49 with her fourth trick to secure the gold.

■ Gold  Abe Hifumi (Jūdō: Men’s 66-kilogram)

Abe Hifumi and his sister Uta both won gold at Tokyo 2020. Hifumi retained his title in Paris, overcoming Willian Lima of Brazil in the final, but Uta made a shock second-round exit.

July 27

■ Bronze  Nagayama Ryūju (Jūdō: Men’s 60-kilogram)

After a controversial defeat to Francisco Garrigós of Spain in the quarterfinals, Nagayama bounced back to advance through the repechage and take the bronze.

■ Gold  Tsunoda Natsumi (Jūdō: Women’s 48-kilogram)

A late bloomer, Tsunoda won gold in her first Olympics at the age of 31 years and 11 months, defeating Baasankhuu Bavuudorj of Mongolia in the final.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Wrestler Kagami Yūka celebrates winning gold in the women’s freestyle 76-kilogram event at Paris 2024. © Reuters.)