Japanese Olympic judo champion Inoue retires
2/5/2008 15:55
Olympic champion Kosei Inoue announced his retirement today after failing
to win a place in Japan's judo team for the Beijing Games.
Inoue, who won the
100kg gold in 2000 in Sydney, lost in the quarterfinals of the All Japan Judo
championship Tuesday and was not selected for the Japanese Olympic team for
Beijing.
"I had a long career in judo and am satisfied with what I
achieved,'' said the 29-year-old. "Obviously the gold medal in Sydney was the
highlight.''
Inoue, also a three-time world champion, defeated Canada's
Nicolas Gill in the final for one of four golds Japan won in judo at the Sydney
Games.
In Athens, Inoue was upset by Elco van der Geest of the Netherlands in
the quarterfinals and finished a disappointing fifth.
Xinhua
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