Olympic champion Ryoko Tamura has picked up a knee injury and may miss the upcoming World Championships, Japanese national judo coach Kazuo Yoshimura said Sunday. Tamura damaged ligaments in her right knee during a training session in Fukuoka on Friday as she warmed up for the Aug. 26-29 World Championships in Munich, Germany, where she will be aiming for her fifth straight 48-kilogram title.
The 25-year-old Fukuoka native will leave Japan for Munich next Saturday as scheduled, but Yoshimura indicated she may have to sit out the championships as she currently finds it difficult to walk.
"We'll see how her injury develops before deciding what to do," Yoshimura said, adding he will have talks with Tamura when Japan's national team members gather in Tokyo on Tuesday. Tamura captured an elusive Olympic gold medal in Sydney in September last year following her back-to-back silver medal performances in Barcelona and Atlanta.
Yoshida sets national record
KITAKAMI, Iwate Pref. (Kyodo) Makiko Yoshida, one of Japan's 4x400-meter relay members for next month's world championships, set a national record of 56.83 seconds Sunday when she won the women's 400-meter hurdles in a qualifying meet for the University Games.
Yoshida, a 24-year-old member of the Fukushima University track and field club, shaved 0.50 off the previous mark she produced at the East Asian Games in Osaka in May. Despite her record-setting performance, Yoshida fell 0.03 second short of the qualifying standard for the world championships to be held in Edmonton, Canada.