Fukuda’s Counter-Attack Decides the -60 kg Final

Yamato Fukuda claimed -60 kg gold in Lausanne after a decisive Ippon victory over Republic of Korea’s Lee Harim. The 20-year-old Japanese judoka struck quickly in the final, using a counter-attack to overcome one of the category’s most experienced competitors.

The matchup brought together two athletes from nations with exceptional depth in the lightest men’s weight categories. Fukuda arrived as a major prospect, but still ranked 58th in the world at one of his first senior World Judo Tour events. His record already included junior world titles in Odivelas in 2023 and Dushanbe in 2024, plus senior gold medals at the Upper Austria Grand Prix and the Rhine-Ruhr FISU World University Games in 2025.

He also brought an eye-catching finishing record to Lausanne, with 20 Ippon wins from 30 international contests recorded by the IJF. Against Lee, however, he faced a judoka with far more established senior experience.

Lee, 29, was ranked 18th in the world before the event and had collected three world medals, including bronze in Doha in 2023 and Abu Dhabi in 2024, as well as a world silver medal. The Korean had also won the Jerusalem Masters in 2022, earned Asian Games bronze in 2018 and returned to the podium with silver at the Qingdao Grand Prix and bronze at the Tokyo Grand Slam in 2025.

Fukuda did not allow the final to become a long tactical battle. He found an opening early and delivered an undeniable Ippon with his counter-attack, ending the contest and securing his first grand slam medal.

Fukuda turned a high-level final into a defining Ippon moment.

After the contest, Fukuda said that the result could have a significant impact on the rest of his judo career. He explained that his training had focused on bringing his usual practice level into competition, while his plan against Lee included looking for opportunities to apply his signature ne-waza techniques and counter-throws such as ura-nage.

The bronze medal contests both went into golden score. Samariddin Kuchkarov of Uzbekistan scored a decisive yuko with sumi-otoshi against Sherzod Davlatov of Kazakhstan, while Brazil’s Michel Augusto also scored a yuko in golden score to defeat Ruslan Poltoratskii of Bahrain.

Fukuda finished first, ahead of Lee, with Kuchkarov and Augusto taking bronze medals. For the young Japanese athlete, Lausanne offered another clear sign that his junior success is translating onto the senior stage.

Source: IJF.org

Image source: IJF / International Judo Federation