Australia sent three judokas to Paris, with all three fighting gallantly in their respective divisions at Champ-de-Mars Arena.
For the second-straight Olympics, Victorian Aoife Coughlan made it through to the round of 16 in the women’s 70kg division.
After defeating Hungarian Szabina Gercsák (HUN) in the round of 32 with a golden score win, she fell short against world number eight Miriam Butkereit after the German’s crafty footwork led to ippon being given.
Katharina Haecker was eliminated by Great Britain’s Lucy Renshall in the women’s 63kg round of 32 event.
Giving her all in the elimination round of 32, Katharina took 3 penalties against the British athlete and lost with a golden score of 11-1.
Joshua Katz was eliminated by Italian Andrea Carlino in the men’s 60kg event at Champ-de-Mars Arena, which came eight years after his Olympic debut in Rio.
The 26-year-old said he was disappointed his Paris Olympic judo campaign was over after the opening day, but it wouldn’t diminish the incredible effort it took just to make it to his second Games.
This article was originally written for The Australian Olympic Team. You can read the published version here
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