Barcelona Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida pulled out of the Kodokan Cup judo weight-category national championships Sunday and hinted that the three-time Olympian may hang up his judo jacket.
Yoshida injured the hamstrings in his right leg during the 100-kg final against defending champion Keiji Suzuki and forfeited the championship at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's martial arts hall.
"I won't be competing in international events in the future," the 32-year-old Yoshida said after his disappointing default. "I just want to become a good instructor now."
Yoshida won the gold medal in the 78-kg class at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and then made the Japanese Olympic team for the 1996 Games in Atlanta and again for last year's event in Sydney.
Buoyed by his only world judo title in 1999, Yoshida went into the Sydney Games as a favorite for a medal in the men's 90-kg event, but was sent home in a sling after breaking his right elbow in a third-round bout. With Yoshida's withdrawal, Suzuki won his fourth straight Kodokan Cup championship.
In other weight categories, Yoshihiro Akiyama, a Korean resident of Japan who just obtained Japanese citizenship, won the 81-kg crown, Katsuhiro Kitagawa posted an ippon for the 66-kg title and national team member Yasuyuki Muneta won his first heavyweight crown.