Tokyo, 6 February, /AJMEDIA/
Japanese judoka Uta Abe said Wednesday, ahead of her first competition since her shock second-round loss at the Paris Olympics, she wants to start from scratch as a challenger.
The 52-kilogram gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 is scheduled to return to the mat at the Feb 14-16 Grand Slam event in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“I’m in good condition without any major injuries,” Abe said in an online interview with reporters. “As a challenger, I want to start from scratch again.”
Abe resumed training last October toward the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and has set winning at the world championships in June in Budapest as her near-term goal.
“I have to win the world title. I’ll try to stick to my style of judo and win one match at a time,” Abe said.