Karen Murakami is only 3 years old but is already an ardent judo fan having taken up the sport at the beginning of this year. Karen and her family are from Japan, now living in Hong Kong but they have travelled to Paris to enjoy the Olympic Games, staying for a week to see as much judo as they can.
Karen Murakami at the entrance to the Champs-de-Mars Arena.
Karen’s mum, Yuzuki, said, “Although she doesn’t have a favourite judoka yet, mine is Keiji Suzuki, a legendary Japanese judoka and now the national head coach. When Karen met him at the Asian Judo Championship in Hong Kong this year, she said he is a kind old man.
Unfortunately during the Tokyo Olympics we had to cheer from our homes, watching on TV, so we wanted our children to experience the excitement of the Olympics this time first hand."
"My grandfather runs a dojo in Fukuoka in Japan so judo has always been my passion. Now Karen and her younger brother George do judo 4 times a week, so they are excited to cheer for the top judoka during this Games.”