Japan’s three-time Olympic judo champion Tadahiro Nomura declared yesterday that he would go for a fourth gold medal at the London Games in 2012 when he is 37.

A master of “seoi-nage” shoulder throws, he is the only judoka to have won the Olympic title three straight times. He also won gold at the world championships in 1997 and bronze in 2003.

Nomura underwent surgery to reconstruct ligaments in his right knee last April after failing to qualify for Beijing.

He said he would make his competitive comeback at the Kodokan Cup in Chiba near Tokyo in November as a springboard for the world championships to be held in Tokyo in 2010.
 

(Agencies)