He is double world champion, she is double world champion.

In Japan, the Hifumi and Uta Abe siblings are well known.

On Sunday July 25, their healthy fraternal rivalry could carry them to Olympic glory while, by chance of the Olympic programming, they will climb onto the tatami mats the same day.

In the legendary Nippon Budokan, it is Uta, double world champion, who will open hostilities in the under 52 kg category.

Hifumi, also double world champion, will continue in the under 66 kg category.

And who knows if they would have this same individual career without this family emulation.

"We encourage each other all the time. And even if we don't talk about it directly, we can feel it without using words," Uta explained recently.

Privilege of the eldest, it was Hifumi who first set foot on the tatami mats, he was 6 years old and his 3-year-old younger sister joined him shortly after.

Judo was not obvious to them, however, their father Koji, a firefighter by trade, seeing them instead playing the piano.

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But little Uta was determined, especially as she quickly showed a few predispositions.

Some even predicted him more future than his brother with the kimono, even if the two regularly dominated their opponents in the youth categories.

World champion at the same time in Baku

With the seniors, it was the same.

In 2017, Hifumi won her first world title.

The following year he did it again, joined by his sister for a golden double in Baku.

"My goal in Baku, more than winning a second consecutive title, was for both of us to win, brother and sister," Hifumi explained at the time of this double coronation.

“When my sister won, I then got on the tatami for the final even more motivated,” he added at the time.

“I'll go get an Olympic gold medal with my sister.

"



Hifumi and Uta ABE was the first Japanese siblings to be world champions in judo and together they go for gold at # Tokyo2020!

🥇🇯🇵🥋



👉 https://t.co/lDiGuMmTZB @ hifumi110 @ aaa001utan pic.twitter.com/obMR9QhvUr

- # Tokyo2020 in French (@ Tokyo2020fr) May 6, 2021

Unfortunately for them, at the 2019 Worlds, Hifumi had to settle for the bronze medal leaving her sister alone at the top of the world hierarchy.

A gold family ?

Now it is at the Olympics and in their country that they want to achieve this double, even if Uta seems to have gained the upper hand over his brother in terms of potential, he who owes his Olympic qualification to an incredible 24-minute play-off against world champion Joshiro Maruyama last December.

And after being in her brother's shadow, Uta is now the shining one.

She has chained 48 consecutive wins against non-Japanese opponents on the tatami mats.

See this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hifumi.Abe (@ hifumi.abe)

But she does not forget the importance of her brother.

"I couldn't have done all of this without my older brother. I don't even know if I could have started judo without him."

The two are now focused on their double Olympic dream: to be crowned on the same day.

And to show their shared ambition, Hifumi posted a crisp New Years message on social media: "In 2021, we will win two gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics as a brother and sister."

With AFP

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