Chapter 415: The First Event — Judo

Chapter 415: The First Event—Judo

On July 25th, the first competition day of the Kyoto Olympics, 18 major events were held, with 6 of them featuring finals that would decide 12 gold medals. Among these, the Chinese delegation had the strength to win gold or medals in four events: men's and women's 10m air rifle, women's judo, and the lightest weightlifting category.

At the Kyoto Asaka Training Ground, the first gold medal of these Olympics would be decided.

The first Olympic gold has always been a focal point of global attention. Since China began participating in the Olympics in 1984, the first gold has been a key target for the Chinese delegation. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the first Games for the People's Republic of China, shooter Xu Haifeng won the men's 50m pistol event on the opening day—the first Olympic gold for New China and the first gold of those Games.

Later, the men's 50m pistol event where Xu Haifeng dominated was discontinued ┓(`)┏.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Du Li clinched the first gold of those Games with a dramatic last-shot comeback in the women's 10m air rifle final.

At the 2012 London Olympics, Yi Siling also won the first gold in the same event.

Fast forward to 2016, Du Li, who had regained Olympic qualification after eight years, had a chance to win another first gold but ultimately took silver with a score of 207.0.

Du Li then retired and became the women's rifle coach for the national shooting team, returning to the Olympics this time as a coach.

Two Chinese athletes competed in the women's 10m air rifle, the event producing the first gold: both were young talents. Zhao Ruozhu, born in 1998, was one. She won the 2017 National Games, claimed two gold medals in her first Shooting World Cup in 2018, breaking world and junior world records, took individual gold and mixed team silver at the Asian Games, and later won mixed team gold at the World Championships that same year.

Of course, despite winning World Cup gold, she had never won a World Championship title, and even with a world record, she was not the favorite. In shooting finals, unless one is exceptionally brilliant, experience plays a huge role.

Yet, the Olympic women's 10m air rifle final has always been a breeding ground for upsets—no exception in the last nine editions, and this time made it ten!

Starting from the penultimate shot, Zhao Ruozhu delivered two exceptionally high scores in a row, staging a stunning comeback to win the event—the first gold of the Kyoto Olympics!

"Sa!"

On the sidelines, Du Li clenched her fists, tears in her eyes, weeping for joy.

On the field, Zhao Ruozhu was dazed, unable to hear the cheers and screams.

News of China's first gold spread rapidly from this point across the globe. The happiest were undoubtedly the Chinese people. Weibo instantly buzzed with excitement, and Zhao Ruozhu's name shot to the top of trending topics and hot searches. Her Weibo account, which had only tens of thousands of followers, quickly surpassed a million.

"First gold, tears in my eyes!"

Kun Ye, a shooting enthusiast—well, mainly into shooting games—chose to watch shooting on the first competition day. As a wealthy ticket holder with a pass, he could pick different events each time slot. Witnessing China's first gold, he tearfully posted on his Moments and Weibo.

The Meng and Wu families also had passes, each choosing their preferred events to watch, or if uninterested, they strolled around. Kyoto was bustling with activities and exhibitions.

By the end of the first competition day, besides the first gold, the Chinese team also won the women's lightest weightlifting title, and a silver in men's 10m air rifle. Two golds and one silver on the opening day—a resounding start!

On the second competition day, the Chinese women's shooting team won the day's first gold in the women's 10m air pistol event, followed by the 17th gold in women's synchronized 10m platform diving, a traditional Chinese strength.

In the women's archery team event that evening, the Chinese women's archery team defeated the reigning champions, the South Korean women's team, for the first time in Olympic history, breaking their eight-match winning streak and claiming their first Olympic gold in the event!

Fast forward to the seventh competition day, July 31st, at the Nippon Budokan, the sacred ground of Japanese judo and the venue for these judo competitions. Today featured the heaviest weight classes in men's and women's judo, and Meng Fan would make his Olympic debut on the tatami.

Olympic judo competitions complete one weight class for each gender in a single day, from preliminaries to quarterfinals, repechage, semifinals, and finals, all within one day.

Starting at 9 a.m., as on previous days, the venue quickly filled up.

Judo can be considered Japan's national martial art, with a strong grassroots base. It is also a traditional strength for Japan. Simply put, spectators come expecting to see victories and flag-raising ceremonies, a scene beloved by most fans and judo enthusiasts.

Today was slightly different. At the Nippon Budokan, which seats 11,000, Japanese spectators made up just over half—the lowest proportion in days. Previously, they accounted for over 70%, even 80%. Today, the two percent lost by Japanese spectators were taken by Chinese fans, raising the Chinese contingent to over 3,000 in attendance!

This was a remarkably high proportion. For non-traditional Chinese events like diving or table tennis, such ratios are rare in foreign competitions.

"Sister-in-law!"

Zhang Zhouwei and his group had finally arrived in Kyoto yesterday and waited outside the Budokan early today. Seeing Wu Tong and the others, they were overjoyed—finally reunited with the main team.

Chen Daqiang habitually called out to Wu Tong, then blushed deeply, realizing the Meng and Wu families were all present. Fortunately, no one seemed surprised by the address.

Zhang Zhouwei's group of six, plus Kun Ye, Yan Xixi, and Pingtou Ge, totaled nine. Under Wu Tong's introductions, they greeted the Meng and Wu families one by one. They learned that Meng Fan's family included not just Meng Caiwei and Meng Caitang but seven sisters in total, all stunningly beautiful.

The group entered the Budokan, their seats in the same section, waiting for the competition to begin.

At 10 a.m., the competition officially started with the women's heaviest weight class preliminaries. Olympic judo uses a single-elimination repechage system.

An hour later, the women's preliminaries and quarterfinals were completed, followed by the men's events.

Meng Fan drew a lucky number: A1, appearing in the first match of the first round.

"He's out! He's out! Over there!"

Hearing the bilingual announcement, over 90% of the audience fixed their eyes on the leftmost competition area. Soon, they saw Meng Fan, wearing a red belt, walk in from the competition entrance—on Olympic and major stages, belt colors only distinguish sides, primarily red and blue.

Meng Fan's first opponent in the first round was someone he knew, having faced him at the Judo Masters, where he won by ippon in under 10 seconds. Despite this, Meng Fan took the match seriously, giving no slack. A lion uses full force even against a rabbit, and this opponent was ranked in the world's top five.

After bowing at the edge, he stepped onto the tatami. Meng Fan let out a long breath to ease his nerves. He was indeed nervous—so much so that when he grabbed his opponent's lapel, his pull was stiff and forceful. Under that stiffness, he couldn't control his strength, and the pull sent his opponent crashing to the ground.

Huh?

Meng Fan was startled, then quickly reacted. Before his opponent could rise, he pressed down, forming an osaekomi (hold-down) position. The referee began counting: "Osaekomi started."

According to the latest rules, if the opponent couldn't escape within 25 seconds, Meng Fan would win by ippon. If it took 20 to 25 seconds, it would be a waza-ari.

But things didn't follow the timer on the screen. At the 7th second of Meng Fan's hold-down, his opponent tapped the mat, conceding defeat!

"A monster?"

After the referee separated them, the opponent, nearly crushed under Meng Fan's pressure in seven seconds, lay flat on the mat, breathing heavily. He never imagined he'd tap out without being subjected to a choke or joint lock!

Just the pressure alone made him feel suffocated, as if he'd be crushed in the next moment. That sensation drove his survival instinct to tap.

"Win!"

The Meng and Wu families were thrilled and excited. Though they'd known from Weibo and such how formidable Meng Fan was in judo, most were seeing him compete live for the first time. Even just winning the first preliminary round was exhilarating!

About twenty minutes later, Meng Fan began his second match. This time, he performed normally, winning by ippon in just seven seconds.

The third match, the quarterfinal, pitted Meng Fan against an old rival—quite old, in fact: South Korean judoka Kim Song-min.

"I give up!"

After bowing at the edge, Kim Song-min raised his hand to signal his surrender to the referee. Then, with a calm expression, he turned and walked off the mat, his steps light.

Compared to his previous encounters with Meng Fan, this was his "glorious" moment. Rather than going back and forth, earning four shido penalties, it was better to concede outright.

What does "outright" mean? Better a short pain than a long one—speed was key!

The South Korean referee on the sidelines seemed to have anticipated this, following Kim Song-min back to the locker room with a blank face. His mouth opened several times, but he finally said, "Focus on the repechage matches."

(End of chapter)