My Olympic hero too! Kaori Matsumoto

London Olympics 2012 (Photo credit: Andrea Vascellari)

The judoka, Kaori Matsumoto who had become Japan's first gold medalist at the London Olympics inspired me. I was so astonished when I saw her for the first time just before her semifinals. She showed up with sharp game face. I 've never seen such a fierce look,though she is a young lady. She continued attacking her opponent aggresively throughout the semifinals and she won.

When she turned up at the finals, her eyes were full of fight and she gave her opponent a fierce look. She did'nt hide her strong desire to win and concentrated all her efforts on the finals. She was dying for the gold medal and then finally she became the gold medalist.

She has often been reffered to as the " beast " because of her fiece look. But she dropped her fierce game face and stood on the top of the medals podium. Her face broke out into a wide smile and there was'nt the beast there.

I heard she started judo at a dojo which was known for its strict training when she was 6 years old. Since then she must have been practcing judo desperately. An instructor Katsuyuki Maruta who practiced with Matsumoto at the same dojo said, "She was strong-willed. I never heard her complain or show any weakness." She deserves the gold medal.

                                                                                                Chisato

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