This Asian Games judo match apparently got a little too literal.
Chinese judoka Tang Jing was disqualified from her women’s under-70kg quarter-final against Japan’s Rin Maeda after Maeda complained that her opponent had bitten her arm during their bout in Nagoya.
Officials reviewed video of the incident before disqualifying Tang for unsportsmanlike behavior.
And according to Japan women’s coach Maki Tsukada, this was no love bite.
“It looked like it was really going to bleed,” Tsukada told Japanese sports website The Digest, saying the bite mark was “very clear and distinct.”
Tang appeared to protest the decision before eventually shaking hands with Maeda and leaving the competition area. She did not speak to reporters afterward.
Reuters has sought comment from the Chinese Judo Association and the Chinese Olympic Committee.
Maeda said she initially had no idea how officials would handle her complaint because getting bitten isn’t exactly part of the usual judo playbook.
“It’s not something that happens very often, so it was a first for me,” she told reporters.
The pain didn’t stop her, either.
Maeda went on to defeat Kazakhstan’s Azhar Askhat in the final and take the gold medal, turning an unusual quarter-final into a championship run.
As Maeda explained, once the action resumed, adrenaline took over and she barely noticed the pain.
From bite mark to gold medal. Now that’s something to chew on.
