• The 26-year-old sealed victory with her opening throw at the Stade de France, a season best effort of 65.80m

PARIS: Javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field on Saturday, while Sakura Motoki brought another wrestling gold to Japan in the women’s 62-kilogram category.

On the 16th day of the Paris Olympics, Rikuto Tamai clinched the first-ever diving medal for Japan, taking silver in the men’s 10-meter platform event, and Taishu Sato also became the first Japanese modern pentathlon medalist, with a silver.

In addition, Daichi Takatani finished second in the men’s 74 kg freestyle wrestling event, and Japan secured a silver medal in the women’s table tennis team event.

Japan’s medal tally rose to 43, including 18 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze medals, surpassing its previous overseas Olympic record of 41 set at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

The Paris Games will conclude on Sunday.

JIJI Press