Reigning Olympic and world champion Ryoko Tamura will pull out of next month's international women's judo meet in Fukuoka after failing to fully recover from a knee injury picked up earlier this year, informed sources said Friday.
Tamura, who has yet to submit a formal notification of her withdrawal, will miss the Dec. 8-9 meet and the chance to win a 12th consecutive title at the 48-kg class.
Tamura injured some of the ligaments and cartilage in her knee in practice just prior to the World Championships in Munich last July, but still managed to claim an unprecedented fifth straight world crown.
According to the sources, Tamura is looking ahead to the 2004 Olympics in Athens and has decided that she needs more time for her knee to fully recover.