Road to redemption: Kiyomi Watanabe vows to do better in Paris Games

Kiyomi Watanabe is set to make her mark again in the world stage as she will be competing for Team Philippines in women’s judo of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 for the second straight time.

It has been three years since the Philippines fielded the Olympics with a female judoka to represent the nation in judo. And though Watanabe’s campaign did not get as far as she had hoped, she earned the distinction as the first Filipina Olympian in the sport since the country participated in Olympic Judo competitions since 1964.

Three years later, that remains to be the case as Watanabe is the lone female in the country’s elite line of judokas in the Olympics which includes John Baylon (1998 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona), Jerry Dino (1998 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona), Benjie McMurray (1988 Seoul), Tomohiko Hoshina (2012 London), and Kodo Nakano (2016 Rio).

The 27-year-old had a forgettable outing in her Olympic debut in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games after absorbing defeat in the opening round via an ippon to Spain’s Cristina Cabaña.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Watanabe booked her return trip to the Olympics.

Watanabe, who won four gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games and a silver medal in the Asian games, secured her seat after earning one of the two continental quotas allocated for Asia in the -63 kilogram class of the women’s category through her world ranking, No. 92.

In her return to the Olympics, the Filipino-Japanese vowed to do better by hurdling the first round in the weight division consisting of 28 entries.

Watanabe is set to begin her stint on July 30.