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FILE – Kiyomi Watanabe from the Philippines. INQUIRER PHOTO/ Sherwin Vardeleon
Kiyomi Watanabe looked disgusted by her first Olympic trip to Tokyo two years ago, but the country’s top judoka has never lost heart and is more than determined to return to the Summer Olympics in Paris 2024.
“I’m sure more athletes want to qualify for Paris because the health protocol (due to COVID-19) has been relaxed. I expect a tougher competition to get a place,” Watanabe said in Japanese.
Spain’s Cristina Cabana Perez eliminated Watanabe in the round of 32 via “ippon” in just 38 seconds in Tokyo. reclaiming the throne at the Asian Games (SEA) Games in Cambodia barely four months from now.
the road is rough
The 2018 Asian Games silver medalist in the women’s -63-kilogram class will continue her hunt for an Olympic berth starting with the International Judo Federation Grand Prix in Portugal on January 27 to 29, the first meeting of the 2023 World Judo Tour.
The 26-year-old Watanabe, whose mother is from Mandaue City, Cebu, has a tough task ahead of her as she needs to be ranked in the top 17 in the world in her weight category to qualify outright, or at least finish No. Asian ranking before the qualification ends.
“They must meet the cutoff quota by June 2024. There is no fixed number of points, but they must be among the highest number of competitors in each event,” Philippine Judo Federation Secretary General David Carter said.
another bet
Watanabe, a four-time SEA Games gold medalist, was unable to defend his title at the Vietnam edition of the SEA Games last year due to a leg injury, but is now in good shape to qualify.
Several tournaments in Europe and Asia held throughout the year have been marked as Olympic qualifying events where Watanabe can collect as many ranking points as possible together with the Filipino-Japanese brothers Shugen and Keisei Nakano, who also dream of a job in Paris.
Watanabe, who dropped to No. 117 in the world rankings, and the Nakano twins are also looking to the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in September to improve their ranking before the Olympic qualification cutoff.
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