3 years next the Tokyo Olympics, Japan’s Hifumi Abe and his sister Uta need to walk for gold once more in Paris 2024 Olympics.
Japan’s brother-and-sister Olympic judo champions Hifumi and Uta Abe say they’re spurring each and every alternative of their bid to guard their titles at this 12 months’s Paris Video games.
The siblings received particular person golds inside an life of each and every alternative on the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and they’re more likely to be a power to be reckoned with once more in Paris.
Each are four-time international champions, and Hifumi Abe informed journalists in Tokyo on Tuesday that he does now not need to be outdone through his more youthful sister this summer season.
“I know we are both working hard and we share the same target – that fact alone helps me,” mentioned the 26-year-old.
“When I see her working hard and putting in the effort, it gives me strength and makes me think that I have to work hard too.”
Hifumi beat Georgia’s Vazha Margvelashvili to win the lads’s under-66kg Olympic name in Tokyo in a while next Uta claimed the ladies’s under-52kg gold beating France’s Amandine Buchard.
The siblings will once more compete at the similar month in Paris, and Uta mentioned they are going to hold an sight on each and every alternative’s fits.
“If we both progress through the tournament then that helps support each other,” mentioned the 23-year-old.
“The most important thing is to keep winning so that we can both reach the final and win.”
The Abe siblings adopted up their Olympic luck through profitable international titles of their respective weight categories in 2022 and 2023.
Hifumi mentioned competing at an Olympics clear of house for the primary generation may be his largest problem.
“There will be a time difference, so I have to make sure I prepare myself right to be in good shape,” he mentioned.
“With the judo side of it, as long as I prepare myself as I normally do, I’m confident there is no way I will lose.”