Uta Abe
Youngest World Tour winner, then five world titles
- Born
- July 14, 2000, Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan
- Nationality
Japan- Height
- 158 cm (5′2″)
- Style
- Uchi mata specialist
- Weight
- 52 kg
- Active
- 2016–present
- Status
- Active · age 26
The record
Unbeaten 2019–2024No losses between the 2019 Osaka Grand Slam (to Amandine Buchard) and her second-round defeat by Diyora Keldiyorova at Paris 2024, a span of more than four years.
2020 Olympic gold (+2 mixed-team silvers), 5 world titles
The story
ta Abe followed her older brother Hifumi into judo in Kobe and made history at 16, winning the 2017 Düsseldorf Grand Prix to become the youngest winner of a senior IJF World Tour event. At 18 she won the 2018 world title at 52 kg, armlocking France's Amandine Buchard in the semi-final and finishing Ai Shishime with uchi mata in golden score. She retained the title in 2019 and, on 25 July 2021, won Olympic gold in Tokyo on the same day as her brother. More world titles followed in 2022 and 2023, and she went more than four years without a loss until Uzbekistan's Diyora Keldiyorova beat her in the second round at Paris 2024. She answered by winning a fifth world title in 2025.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- Olympic champion, 52 kg (2020)
- World champion, 52 kg (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2025)
- World junior champion, 52 kg (2017)
Defining matches
- 2018WINvs Ai Shishime (World Championships final, uchi mata in golden score)
- 2019WINvs Majlinda Kelmendi (World Championships semi-final, pinned)
- 2021WINvs Amandine Buchard (Tokyo 2020 Olympic 52 kg final)
- 2024LOSSvs Diyora Keldiyorova (Paris Olympics second round; first loss in over four years)
Abe finishes on the ground as well as standing: her 2018 semi-final ended in an armlock and many of her wins come from pins after a throw. Practise uchi mata and the follow-up hold as one sequence, so a partial score becomes a finish.
