Japan’s Olympic Gold Medalist Tsunoda Retires from Judo, Promises to Keep Promoting Sport

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:05 JST, January 30, 2026

Judoka Natsumi Tsunoda, who took gold for Japan in the women’s 48-kilogram judo division at the Paris Olympics, announced Friday that she would be retiring.

Tsunoda, 33, held a press conference in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, on Friday and announced that she is focusing on promoting judo in the future.

“I think the support of many people has helped me fight to the end. From now on, even if I’m not an athlete, I want to walk through life with judo,” she said.

Tsunoda, who is from Chiba Prefecture, made her Olympic debut at the Paris Games. She used her signature tomoe-nage overhead throw and kansetsu-waza joint-locking submission techniques to advance to the finals and became Japan’s first gold medal winner at the Games.