Riner denied 3rd straight judo gold

French heavyweight judoka Teddy Riner has failed in his bid to win a record equalling third straight Olympic gold after suffering a shock quarter-final defeat.

Riner - one of judo's biggest names - lost to Tamerlan Bashaev of the Russian Olympic Committee team in the men's judo +100 kg division on Friday.

He bounced back, coming through a repechage contest before beating Japan's Hisayoshi Harasawa to win a bronze medal, adding to the Frenchman's tally of two golds and one bronze from previous Games.

Bashaev also won bronze with Czech Lukas Krpalek defeating Guram Tushishvili of Georgia in the final to claim gold.

The 32-year-old Riner had been aiming to match the record of claiming three consecutive Olympic gold held by Japanese great Tadahiro Nomura.

But Riner lost to Bashaev in 'golden score' sudden-death over-time.

The defeat followed a surprise loss last year for Riner, a 10-time world champion.

Riner lost for the first time in nearly a decade when Japan's Kokoro Kageura ended his 154-match winning streak, going back to 2010, in the Paris Grand Slam.

Meanwhile, Akira Sone won the women's +78 kg category, defeating Idalys Ortiz of Cuba in the final.

The win allowed host country Japan to secure a record haul of nine gold from the sport in Tokyo, surpassing the previous record of eight at the 2004 Athens Games.