The pair were dreaming of repeating their Tokyo success as they took to the tatami on the second day of judo competition at Paris 2024. "I know we are both working hard and we have the same goal, that alone helps me," said Hifumi Abe in May 2024.

They followed up their Olympic success with world titles in their respective weight classes in both 2022 and 2023. Both were undefeated heading into Tokyo 2020 and were the main contenders for gold in Paris.

But the start of the day was shocking for one of the siblings - Uta. Having missed several IJF Grand Slam tournaments and the World Championships in 2024, she was ranked only 9th in the Olympic rankings and was unseeded in the draw. She was drawn in the top half of the bracket and had to face World N1 and silver medallist of the last two World Championships Diyora Keldiyorova in her second bout.

The two had met twice before and Abe had won each time with an ippon within 1.5 minutes. She defeated Keldiyorova in the final of the 2023 World Championships to take the gold medal.

Abe was also overconfident in Paris. She breezed through the first round, beating Canada's Kelly Deguchi. She started well against Keldiyorova, scoring a waza-ari in the second minute of the bout. But with exactly one minute left on the clock, Keldiyorova launched an attack, grabbing Abe's back and throwing her for an ippon.

Abe left the mat in tears and spent several minutes in her coach's arms near the mat as the crowd at the Champ-de-Mars Arena began chanting "Uta". Eventually, she walked out of the arena with her coach, with the crowd still applauding and chanting her name.

Meanwhile, Hifumi Abe kicked off the competition with a confident victory over Hungary's Bence Pongracz.