Japan's ex-Olympic Judo champ accused of rape
Japan's retired double Olympic judo gold medallist Masato Uchishiba was arrested today on suspicion of raping a teenage girl at a hotel in Tokyo, police said.
Japan's retired double Olympic judo gold medallist Masato Uchishiba was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of raping a teenage girl at a hotel in Tokyo, police said.
Uchishiba, 33, who won the 66kg title at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, has denied the charge, saying he had the sex "on the basis of mutual consent", the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said.
"I cannot accept it," Uchishiba, who retired from competition last year, was quoted as saying by an MPD spokesman.
Uchishiba was fired a week ago by a provincial university where he had been coaching its women's judo team as a visiting professor since April last year.
The school, Kyushu University of Nursing and Social Welfare, has accused Uchishiba of sexually harassing a teenaged member of the team after getting her drunk at a hotel in September during a training camp.
Uchishiba is accused of raping the unidentified girl in a hotel room when she was "unable to resist as she was sleeping in a state of intoxication," the police spokesman said.
According to media reports, quoting police sources, Uchishiba had a drinking session with the girl and other people at a Japanese-style pub near the hotel before the alleged incident.
Uchishiba was hailed as a hero at home when he became the first Japanese to win a gold medal in any sport at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when Japan won just two medals in men's judo, an all-time low.
The other medallist was Satoshi Ishii who took the over-100kg title.