After a trying year since she and her older brother won Tokyo Olympic judo gold medals, 22-year-old Uta Abe is now eying a title defense in Paris in 2024, with this year's world championships an important stepping stone toward that goal.
Abe and her brother Hifumi became Japan's first sister and brother to win Olympic medals, but since then she has undergone surgery on each shoulder to pursue her dream of 52-kilogram Olympic gold in Paris.
More immediately, she is relishing the chance to continue her dominance in the division at the world championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, starting Oct. 6.