Japanese taekwondo champ gets nod to compete in Athens

TOKYO: Japan’s Olympic taekwondo bronze medallist Yoriko Okamoto got the go-ahead yesterday to represent her country in the Athens Games, despite a simmering feud over who governs the combat sport in Japan. 

The power struggle had already stopped Okamoto, who won the women’s 67kg-class bronze in Sydney in 2000, and other Japanese taekwondo aces from competing in the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.