However, it took Terada less than a minute to throw for a waza-ari with seoi-otoshi and then pin her for the all-important second score.

In the first contest for a bronze medal, Yingying Feng (CHN) came on to the tatami determined to win her second grand slam medal, following her silver in Kazakhstan earlier this year. She threw Grauer for a yuko with o-soto-gari and not long later she threw again for a waza-ari and almost held to seal the deal, but Grauer escaped. The German pulled a yuko back but it wasn’t enough and Feng had her medal.

In the second bronze medal contest Yuhui Darkhanbatbayar (MGL), clearly nervous, despite her teammates’ success at -63 kg and -73 kg, stepped up to face another Mongolian athlete, Nyam-Erdene Batsuuri. Both are 19 years old, neither has a World Judo Tour medal but today that will change for one of them.

At just over halfway through the contest, Darkhanbatbayar turned in well with an uchi-mata that knocked Batsuuri over for a yuko. The spectators in the Steppe Arena were remarkably quiet throughout, even when Darkhanbatbayar scored a second time. She held for ippon after that, almost at the end of the contest time and the audience clapped respectfully as the time ticked away. Both athletes were supported; another medal for Mongolia.