Three years ago they won nine gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and they had four returning gold medallists, but the result was far from the home Olympics.

France won 10 medals but finished second in the medal table with only two gold medals. Azerbaijan are the third country with two or more gold medals and they were only behind Japan in the individual events. 

Both Japan and France were hoping for better results. The Japanese were hoping for revenge at least in the mixed team event, which brought the tournament to a close in beautiful style. All three medal matches were 7-bout series and the result was decided by a single throw in the golden score. Germany and Italy came close to winning after trailing 2-3, but lost by a golden point. France pulled off an epic comeback against Japan, with living legend Teddy Riner scoring the final point of the tournament.

One of the greatest sporting events of all time! The greatest final we've ever seen. France and Japan produced 90 minutes of Judo that will never be forgotten. And when they needed him the most, the GOAT stepped up. Teddy Riner was called upon not once, but twice to keep the… pic.twitter.com/ndpSDk4X6s

— Judo (@Judo) August 3, 2024

Three retained

Only three returning Olympic champions from Tokyo 2020 retained their titles - Hifumi Abe and Takanori Nagase (both Japan) and Lasha Bekauri (Georgia), all three in the men's competition. Riner also had Olympic gold from London and Rio, but finished third in Tokyo. 

The other ten athletes became Olympic champions for the first time in their careers. Kazakhstan's Yeldos Smetov was third in Tokyo and missed out on Paris 2024, but he earned his place in the national team at the last moment and went on to win gold.

Abe's success and failure

Uta Abe's heartbreaking loss to Diyora Keldiyorova was one of the highlights of the opening days of the Olympics.

Her brother Hifumi won gold on the same day, dedicating his victory to his sister, but it was a weak consolidation for Uta. The Abe siblings haven't had a defeat since Tokyo 2020, but both lost in Paris: Uta to Keldiyorova in the singles and Hifumi to France's Joan-Benjamin Gaba in the mixed team event. Hifumi did not compete in his weight category in the mixed team event and remains unbeaten in the -66kg category in the last five years.

Heydarov's first Olympic gold

Hidayat Heydarov's gold medal was one of the most anticipated of the Games and the Azerbaijani judoka did what he has been doing for the past few years. Heydarov's journey has been a tough one and he fully deserved his gold medal. Azerbaijan also won an individual gold medal when Zelym Kotsoiev became Olympic champion in the -100kg category.

Four more countries on the Olympic judo medal map

Croatia, Moldova, Mexico and Sweden won their first judo medals in Olympic history. Croatia's Barbara Matic was the main contender for the gold medal and she proved herself in Paris by winning the championship title. Moldova won two medals in Paris through Adil Osmanov and Denis Vieru. Sweden's Tarah Babulfath may only be 18, but she won bronze with a view to more in the future.

If Matic, Vieru and Babulfath were among the world leaders in their weight classes, the success of Mexico's Pricsa Awiti Alcaraz was a real surprise. She won the silver medal, losing only to Slovenia's Andreja Leski. 

Riner - a new king of judo

France's Riner was already a legend, but he became even more so in Paris after winning his third individual gold medal in the super heavyweight category and then his fifth Olympic gold in the mixed team event. 

It was purely symbolic that Riner was chosen to fight on the golden point. He scored the final point of the judo tournament, much to the delight of the crowd at the Champ-de-Mars arena. 

Judo Rules

The IJF changed its rules in 2016 to make judo more dynamic and more watchable. In Paris, however, many judo fans remained dissatisfied with the quality of the judo. A large number of fights ending in shidos, judokas fighting cautiously, pretending to attack to avoid shidos, and some of the judges' decisions left fans disappointed. 

Japan and Italy complained about the officiating in the early days of the Games. They complained even more on the last day of the competition, during the mixed team events, when Hifumi Abe attacked but Gaba didn't get a third shido. 

If the trend of cautious judo continues until Los Angeles 2028, the IJF can take measures to prevent it, as was done in freestyle wrestling a few years ago. Judo is a sport that relies on its traditions and history, any change becomes a subject of discussion, and it's hard to believe that we will see some global changes in the near future, but the fact is that the Olympic audience wants to see more action and more beautiful moves. Let's hope they get it in Los Angeles.