Olympics: Tsunoda shunned pressure of expectation to claim judo glory

Already feeling the pressure in her Olympic debut, Natsumi Tsunoda tried not to think about the possibility of winning Japan's first gold medal of the Paris Games before claiming her place atop the women's 48-kilogram judo podium on Saturday.Despite having won three world championships, Tsunoda said the Olympics bring a different level of anxiety, compounded by the expectations of a country hungry for its first gold of the games."I was focusing on other things, but I'm happy now that it's a reality," she said at the Champ-de-Mars Arena.Her gold was Japan's 500th medal in Summer Games histor…READ FULL ARTICLE