Yahiro was eliminated in the round robin stage of the - 75kg kumite division, as the sport made its Olympic debut in Tokyo at the Nippon Budokan.

The 33-year-old from the Miyagikan Goju Ryu Karate Do club fought bravely in an elite 10-man field but went down in each of his four matches, losing 6-3 to Kazakhstan’s Nurkanat Azhikanov, 5-0 to Italy’s Luigi Busa, 5-0 to Azerbaijan’s Rafael Aghayev, 5-0 and 8-3 to Noah Bitsch in an enthralling contest in which Yahiro led 3-2 before a late rally by the German.

While disappointed not to progress to the medal round, Yahiro was proud to have realised his Olympic dream.

“It was a dream come true to stand there and see the rings on the floor,” he said.

“It was a great moment, it’s just a shame I didn’t qualify.

“I stood toe to toe with the world’s best and I think I should have my chin up for that.”

To be part of the inaugural Olympic karate competition in Tokyo was a career highlight for Yahiro, who moved to Australia from Japan when he was 18 months old before taking up the sport at the age of nine.

He has been undefeated at the Australian Championships since 2001 and is a four-time Oceania Champion while he also has two bronze medals (Jakarta 2012 and 2014) and a gold (Jakarta 2013) from his time on the world circuit. He also won bronze at the 2013 Junior World Championships.

“Being the first time karate’s been in the Olympics and being the sole Olympian for Australia is something I really take pride in,” Yahiro said.

“To be able to stand here and participate in this competition, for me I‘ll be proud of that for the rest of my life.”

A world class field of 10 competitors contested the event, representing Australia, Japan, Hungary, Germany, USA, Italy, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Egypt and Ukraine.

David Taylor

#HaveAGo at Karate