Olympic Judo 2016: Medal Winners and Scores After Friday's Results

In the women's and men's heavyweight judo finals at the 2016 Olympics, France's Emilie Andeol and Teddy Riner walked away with gold medals in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.

Riner, who came into the day as the favorite to win gold in the men's event, knocked off Japan's Hisayoshi Harasawa to fulfill his destiny. He was the reigning Olympic champion, knocking off Russia's Alexander Mikhaylin in London four years ago, and won seven gold medals at the World Championships from 2007 to 2015.

The women's draw appeared to be a showcase for Cuba's Idalys Ortiz, who won in London four years ago. Andeol was able to work the gold-medal match into her favor, though, eventually securing the victory in the golden-score period.

Women's 78-Plus Kilograms	Medal	Men's 100-Plus Kilograms
Emilie Andeol (France)	Gold	Teddy Riner (France)
Idalys Ortiz (Cuba)	Silver	Hisayoshi Harasawa (Japan)
Yu Song (China), Kanae Yamabe (Japan)	Bronze	Or Sasson (Israel), Rafael Silva (Brazil)

Women's 78-Plus Kilograms

Markus Schreiber/Associated Press

Andeol and Ortiz did not make for the most spectacular matchup in the finale. The two sides traded one penalty with no points during regulation, leading to the golden-score period.

There were about three more minutes of dead action before things started to pick up. Andeol eventually got Ortiz on the mat and was able to hold her down for 20 seconds, earning the ippon for the upset victory. 

Paris 2024's official Twitter account captured the reaction at Club France after Andeol secured her first career gold medal:

Ortiz's defeat prevented her from becoming the first Cuban woman to win two Olympic gold medals in judo, though she has no reason to hang her head.

The 26-year-old may have wanted to take a more aggressive approach against an under-the-radar challenger, but that is when mistakes can happen. She was always one move away from being awarded a yuko, which would have changed the narrative. 

With her runner-up finish, Ortiz has earned a gold, silver and bronze medal in her Olympic career. She's hardly approaching an age at which her skills will diminish rapidly, so look for her to be back in the medal mix in four years.

Yu Song, who entered the tournament as the top-ranked judo fighter in her weight class, was upset by Andeol in the semifinals. She was able to rebound in the first bronze-medal match, knocking off South Korea's Kim Min-jeong.

Japan's Kanae Yamabe defeated Turkey's Kayra Sayit in the second bronze-medal match after previously winning bronze at the 2015 World Championships. 

Men's 100-Plus Kilograms

Markus Schreiber/Associated Press

The tournament went as expected on the men's side. Riner has been an unstoppable force in his weight class for years. He had a slight advantage over the rest of the field, earning a bye into the round of 16 since there were only 31 fighters in the weight class. 

Riner's win made him the first back-to-back Olympic gold medalist in 16 years:

Michael Phelps generates headlines for his dominance in men's swimming, but it would be reasonable to put Riner on a similar pedestal. Per OptaJean, the French sensation has won 127 consecutive bouts and hasn't lost since September 2010.

The match against Harasawa was not Riner's finest. The two warriors fought to a scoreless tie, with Riner getting the victory by virtue of having just one penalty, compared to two for Harasawa. 

Riner isn't going to complain about the outcome. He left no doubt about who the best heavyweight judo fighter in the world is. Harasawa's mistakes left him with a bitter defeat, but there's nothing wrong with finishing second to a legend who hasn't lost in nearly six years. 

The fans in Rio de Janeiro had a reason to cheer in one of the bronze-medal matches, as Brazilian star Rafael Silva was able to upend Abdullo Tangriev. Israel's Ori Sasson earned his country's second medal of the Games, claiming a bronze with his win over Alex Garcia Mendoza.