Taylor Takata finishes 2-2 in the Olympics
BEIJNG — Taylor Takata couldn't hide his disappointment
After the way the day started, with overtime wins in his first two judo
bouts, Takata was thinking about climbing up an Olympic medal stand, not
scraping himself off the mat at the Beijing Science and Technology
University Gymnasium.
But with 1 minute and 34 seconds remaining in his fourth and final bout
yesterday, Egypt's Aheen El Hady tossed Takata to the mat for the win.
Takata finished ninth in his first Olympics with a 2-2 record in the
145.5-pound (66kg) class.
"He made his attack and I thought I could stop it, but his momentum took
me over,'' he said. "I thought I should have won that last match, but that's
sometimes how judo is. Sometimes you get caught.''
The day began auspiciously for the 26-year-old from Wahiawa. After a
first-round bye, the 'Iolani School alum defeated Tariel Zintiridis from
Greece 29 seconds into overtime in his first match.
In his next match he beat eight-time World Cup champion Dex Elmont of the
Netherlands, 2-1, after being awarded a penalty point during the extra
session.
Officials' decisions, however, worked against him in his third bout as he
lost to Cuba's Yordanis Arencibia after being penalized twice, once for
stalling. Despite the loss, he remained confident he would be able to win
his next two bouts in the repechage (second-chance) bracket, and fight for a
bronze medal. But El Hady put an end to those hopes.
"He just caught me and got me out-gripped,'' Takata said.
He said he wasn't sure if he would continue competing long enough to give
the 2012 London Olympics a shot.
"I'm taking everything day-by-day,'' Takata said. "I'm going to go back
to Colorado to gather my thoughts and decide what to do next.''
He said he definitely will resume his studies in finance at the
University of Colorado, where he has nearly enough credits to be a senior.
He's hoping to one day work for some of the businesses his father runs in
Hawai'i.
Takata's immediate future will be spent attending as many Olympic events
as he can. His top priorities? U.S. baseball and basketball games.
And he'll also spend some time reflecting on his Olympic debut.
"It's been a great experience for me to fight the best guys in the
world,'' he said. "I couldn't ask for more.''
Japan's Masato Uchishiba won his second straight Olympic gold medal,
pinning France's Benjamin Darbelet just seconds into their final match in
the 66-kilogram division.
Taking the bronzes were Arencibia, who defeated Russia's Alim Gadanov on
points, and North Korea's Pak Chol Min, who outscored Mirali Sharipov of
Uzbekistan with a waza ari.
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