Beijing - Ole Bischof of Germany caused a surprise Tuesday when he won gold in the men's 81-kilogram judo final while in the women's 63kg event Japan's Ayumi Tanimoto successfully defended her Olympic title. Bischof, whose best previous result was a European championship title in 2005, defeated Asian champion Kim Jaebum of South Korea by yuko in the final at the Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium.
Tiago Camilo of Brazil, winner of the 2007 world championships, defeated Dutchman Guillaume Elmont by ippon in the first men's bronze medal match while Roman Gontjuk of Ukraine also took bronze thanks to a victory by yuko over Mongolia's Nyamkhuu Damdinsuren.
"I am lost for words, my trainer is my example," said Bischof in reference to Frank Wieneke, winner of a silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics."
"I am just enjoying my medal at the moment."
Kim said he was disappointed not to have achieved the goal he set of winning in Beijing when moving up a weight eight months ago.
"I trained hard since then and ended up with a silver. What I really wanted was the gold medal so I am a little disappointed but I am grateful for winning a silver medal at the Olympics," he said.
In the final of the women's 63kg event, Tanimoto beat France's Lucie Decosse, the 2005 world champion and a woman she has been fighting since junior level.
"She is the person I have been working towards defeating here and I am very happy that i could compete against her," said Tanimoto.
The 27-year-old secured Olympic gold by ippon with 3 minutes 34 seconds remaining.
"I came here to grab the gold and I knew that his battle against Tanimoto would be a tough one," said Decosse.
"I have fought against her since the juniors and won many times, usually by ippon. This time she was the one who won by ippon."
In the first bronze medal match, Elisabeth Willeboordse of the Netherlands beat Cuba's Driulis Gonzalez by golden score by koka after the regulation five minutes failed to produce a winner.
North Korea's Won Ok-Im defeated Austria's Claudia Heill, winner of Olympic silver in 2004, by waza-ari in the other bronze medal match.
