Japan claimed four gold medals on the opening day of the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam 2026. ABE Uta made history with a record-breaking 12th Grand Slam title, while KOGA Wakana, TAKEOKA Takeshi and OMORI Akari also struck gold. AGHAYEV Balabay defeated world champion NAGAYAMA Ryuju for -60kg gold.
Welcome back to the IJF World Tour, and to one of it’s most revered stops, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
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The Steppe Arena was the host of the first tournament offering LA Olympic qualification points, so many of the world's biggest judo stars were in action.
At -48 kg, KOGA Wakana took on ZHUANG Wenna in the final. An ouchi-gari for yuko proved the slightest of differences in a close battle and saw KOGA take the win.
International Judo Federation Education and Coaching Director, Mr Mohammed MERIDJA was on hand to award the medals.
The -60kg final was high calibre, World number one Balabay AGHAYEV, and Current world champion NAGAYAMA Ryuju.
A yuko score from the Azeri was enough to earn him the gold!
He was awarded his medal by Vice President of the Mongolian Judo Association, Mr Turbold BOLDBAATAR.
At -52kg, Olympic and five time World champion, ABE Uta looked to be right at her very best, dispatching every fighter in her path to the final.
With her opponent there unable to compete. ABE claimed a record breaking 12th Grand slam gold medal… the most by any woman.
She was awarded her medal by Referee Director of the International Judo Federation, Ms Tina TRSTENJAK.
Current -66kg world champion TAKEOKA Takeshi looked supreme all day. A strong Waza-ari score in the final saw him best Ramazan ABDULAEV.
The medals were awarded by Chair of the Mongolian State Committee of Physical Culture and Sports, Mr Bilegt ERDENESAIKHAN.
In the -57kg final, OMORI Akari caught Sarah Leonie CYSIQUE with an opportune sacrifice technique to score and take a fourth title on the day for Japan.
She was awarded the gold by Referee Supervisor of the International Judo Federation, Mr Mathieu BATAILLE.
Sukhbat BYAMBASUREN gave the home crowd reason to celebrate, taking a hard earned bronze medal for the hosts.
Join us tomorrow for the middle-weights and more big judo stars!