Japan's Hamada and Wolf Win Gold Medals to Match Record Haul

TOKYO - Japan's Aaron Wolf and Shori Hamada grabbed gold medals in their respective judo finals Thursday, taking the host nation's tally to eight golds from the sport at the Tokyo Games and matching their record haul from Athens 2004.

Wolf, 25, and world champion in 2017, threw South Korean Cho Gu-ham to secure a dramatic ippon victory that ended more than five minutes of grueling Golden Score sudden-death overtime in the men's -100kg final. It was the first time in 21 years that a Japanese judoka had dominated the -100 kg category at the Olympics. Wolf, whose mother is Japanese and whose father is from the United States, raised his fist in victory and burst into tears when he won the final. He later said he had used painkillers on both his bad knees the previous day.