2012 Olympic Champion, Kaori Matsumoto has announced her retirement, following a first-round loss at a qualifying event for the 2019 World Championships.
“I’m not that disappointed in the loss. Perhaps I’ve now reached the stage where I’m distancing myself from going all out and taking risks,” the 31-year-old said after losing the women’s 57kg division at the Kadokan cup. from Chiba Port Arena outside Tokyo.
“I have been thinking I need to start considering about what to do with the rest of my life if I didn’t advance to the finals.”
Matsumoto would give birth to a girl in June 2017, after finishing with a bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and returned to competition this year, and with her ability to compete at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo at “zero percent” she has decided to step away from competition and ponder her future as a member of the national team.
Initial Report: JudoInside