It was nearly a perfect stage for Japan¡¯s Kiyou Shimizu: The Olympics, in her home country, as her sport makes its long-anticipated debut at Nippon Budokan ¡ª the mecca for martial arts in Japan.
For Shimizu ¡ª who came up short in the women¡¯s kata final against Spaniard Sandra Sanchez Jaime on Thursday night ¡ª silver was not the result she was hoping for and that may sting for a while.
It is often said that no matter how many global events an athlete has competed in and no matter how many titles they¡¯ve won, the Olympics is a different animal and it¡¯s difficult for many to perform at their best on the biggest stage in sports.
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