Judo: Olympic champion sentenced to five years in prison for rape
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In this file photo taken on Aug 15, 2004, gold-medallist Masato Uchishiba of Japan, poses with his medal for the Half-Light Judo at the Ano Liossia Olympic Hall in Athens, Greece. Uchishiba was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday, Feb 1, 2013, for raping a female member of a university judo club in 2011. -- PHOTO: AP
TOKYO (AP) - Two-time Olympic judo champion Masato Uchishiba was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for raping a female member of a university judo club in 2011.
In handing down his ruling, judge Tomonao Onizawa said the court "cannot trust at all" claims by Uchishiba that he had consensual sex with the student, Kyodo news agency reported.
Uchishiba, 34, who gold in the 66kg class at the Athens and Beijing Olympics, is expected to appeal.
The judge said the woman's accusation of sexual assault while she was asleep was credible given that she could not stand up on her own after drinking too much alcohol at a restaurant before the incident.
