Japan sent its team to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney with expectations of dominating men’s and women’s judo, and with high hopes for a few golds in swimming.
The first goal was accomplished as Japan’s judoka returned home with four golds and eight medals overall in judo.
Another significant accomplishment for Japan was in the women’s marathon as the country placed a woman on the medal podium for the third consecutive Olympics.
The following list includes brief information on the three men and two women who won golds at the Sydney Games:
Kosei Inoue: A three-time World Judo Championships titlist, Inoue won the Half-Heavyweight gold in Sydney. He was an overwhelming favorite again four years later at the Athens Games, but went down to defeat before the medal matches.
Tadahiro Nomura: Nomura has the distinction of being the only judoka to take three consecutive Olympic golds. He accomplished this feat at the Olympics spanning 1996-2004.
Naoko Takahashi: Takahashi finished the grueling marathon course in Sydney in an Olympic-record time of 2:23.14. In 2001, she became the first woman to run the distance in under 2 hours and 20 minutes in capturing the Berlin Marathon.
Makoto Takimoto: Takimoto was another of Japan’s judo gold medalists in Sydney. He took the title with a final-match victory over South Korean standout, Cho In-Chul.
Ryoko Tamura-Tani: One of the greatest competitive judoka of all time, Tamura-Tani captured five Olympic medals in a career covering nearly two decades. Her top achievements were back-to-back golds at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.
Patrick Hattman lived in Japan for more than a decade and continues to closely follow the country’s best athletes and team sports.
