Gerard Takayawa continued his family’s legacy in the sport of judo at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The name Takayawa is synonymous with Fiji judo and the 18-year-old is the latest from the family to carry their name in the pinnacle of sports.
The former Suva Grammar School student, who now studies in Japan, is the youngest Takayawa to make it to an Olympic Games.
He went down to 25-year-old Slovakian Marius Fizel in the round of 32 yesterday.
Fizel is ranked 16th in the world.
“I feel proud and honoured. I wasn’t expecting to be at the Olympics at this age, I was expecting to be at the Olympics in my mid 20s but reaching this stage has been an unbelievable experience,” he said.
Takayawa was defeated 19 seconds before full-time.
“I didn’t expect the crowd to make so much noise when I came out. The cheering made me felt like I needed to get stronger, I wanted to do some more.”
Gerard is the nephew of Tevita Takayawa who competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
The tradition started from Viliame Takayawa in 1984 and 1988 along with Nacanieli Takayawa-Qerewaqa in 1992, 1996 and 2000.
“Even though I lost, I will continue to do my best in the sport. I’ll go back, continue training and try to get back in the next Olympics,” he added.
The youngster took up judo at the age of 12 and officially competed at 15.
He competed in international competitions just last year and won silver at the 2024 Santiago Panamerican Open in Chile.
Takayawa is a first-year student pursuing a degree in law at the Ryutsu Keizai University in Japan.
