Kiyomi Watanabe heads for another Olympic tour

Kiyomi Watanabe is back in the Olympics.

The Filipino-Japanese judoka will make her second straight stint in the Summer Games as she made her debut, and even carried the flag in the opening ceremony, back in Tokyo 2020.

However, this will be different as this may be her redemption season.

Watashi wa star

Watanabe has always been a star of her sport as she has already achieved so much for the country.

In the Southeast Asian Games, Watanabe started competing in the 2011 edition but started winning four consecutive golds in the next editions of the biennial meet.

The daughter of a Cebuana mom and a Japanese father, Watanabe also copped bronze in the 2017 and 2018 editions of IJF Grand Slam, both for the 63 kg category.

In the 2018 Asian Games, Watanabe also claimed a silver medal for the said weight class. 

Eventually, Watanabe qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but had an early exit in a contested match.

Despite this, the judoka previously said she will earn the spot for Paris, and eventually she did through continental qualification.

Mats awaiting returnees

Aside from Watanabe's return, Tokyo gold medalist and hometown bet Clarisse Agbegnenou will also return to the mats. Bronze medalist Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard of Canada will also be back in the 63kg weight class.

World no. 1 Joanne Van Lieshout of the Netherlands will also compete in the said category.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News