After Japan’s Saori Yoshida scored an admirable silver but failed to claim the gold medal in her fourth consecutive Games, teammate Risako Kawai was overjoyed to bring home the top prize in the 63-kg freestyle competition – so overjoyed that she threw her coach around the mat like a bean-bag.
Apparently it’s also a tradition for this coach to be hoisted on his athlete’s shoulder’s and carried around with their national flag waving.
The 21-year-old Kawai was making her Olympic debut after winning the silver at last year’s World Championships. She told Japan Today, “At the worlds, I was happy just to make it to the final and wasn’t totally myself, and I knew that it would have to be a big stage like this to get my revenge so I went in thinking I’m definitely going to win the gold medal.” Kawai scored three takedowns in a 6-0 decision and as seen above, kept team tradition by flipping team leader Kazuhito Sakae twice on the mat and then taking the coach for a victory lap.
Kawai added, “When I saw three (Japanese wrestlers) win gold medals yesterday, I really wanted one more than ever. I was determined that no matter what I was going to bring a gold medal home with me.”
Exit thought for coach Sakae: