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<strong>A brash mayor of Nagoya city in Japan has triggered an outrage by suddenly biting the Olympic gold medal won by a Japanese women&#39;s softball team player when she met him as part of a celebratory function.</strong></p>
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A report in Japan&rsquo;s leading newspaper Nikkei Asia, the image of Kawamura&#39;s medal-biting went viral on social media, sparking a backlash against him not only from the athlete&rsquo;s supporters and fans but also from other top Olympic athletes.</p>
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The act which was described as &quot;lacking respect&quot; for the athlete who won the medal and inappropriate amid the coronavirus pandemic.</p>
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Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura misbehaviour occurred when Miu Goto, a 20-year-old pitcher hailing from the city, visited the municipal government following the team&#39;s victory over the United States at the Tokyo Olympics.</p>
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When 20-year-old Miu Goto put her gold medal around the neck of Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura,&nbsp; the 72-year-old first grabbed it and said, &quot;It&#39;s heavy,&quot; before taking off his mask and suddenly biting it without taking her permission, the Nikkei report said.</p>
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&quot;I myself have been careful not to scratch my gold medal,&quot; Judoka Naohisa Takato, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, said on Twitter. &quot;Goto has too big a heart. I would&#39;ve cried.&quot;</p>
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Yuki Ota, Japan&#39;s first Olympic fencing medalist, said Kawamura &ldquo;lacks respect for the athletes who had to put their medals around their own necks or ask their teammates to do so as part of anti-infection measures. And now he bites the medal? It&#39;s inconceivable to me.&quot;</p>
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Toyota Motor Corp., which owns the club team Goto plays for, has also criticized Kawamura, saying in a statement, &quot;It was an unworthy act and lacked respect&quot; for the athlete&#39;s long-running efforts that helped the national softball team clinch victory.</p>
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Some older Olympians questioned whether athletes need to meet the mayor of their hometown to report on their achievements.</p>
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The Nagoya city office was flooded with over 4,000 complaints, forcing Kawamura to apologize.</p>
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&quot;I saw the gold medal that I had admired and acted on impulse,&quot; Kawamura told reporters. &quot;I made the symbol of years and years of hard work dirty. I apologize from the bottom of my heart.&quot;</p>
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The mayor also spoke with Yasuhiro Yamashita, president of the Japanese Olympic Committee, over the phone on Thursday to say sorry and also sent a letter of apology to Toyota.</p>
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