RIO DE JANEIRO — An Olympic champion yet again, Kayla Harrison now has a chance to become an even bigger star.

Harrison earned her second straight gold medal in judo on Thursday, winning the 78-kilogram division at the Rio de Janeiro Games. After the bout, she was asked about turning her attention to a professional career in mixed martial arts.

She would not say.

“I’m just going to focus on being two-time Olympic champion and decide about punching people in the face at a later date,” said Harrison, a friend of UFC star Ronda Rousey.

Harrison said she has received multiple offers from various organizations asking her to fight in MMA competitions but has so far turned them all down. Her coach, Jimmy Pedro, said he doubted that she would turn pro, adding she was “too nice of a person” to do mixed martial arts.

After Harrison won the Olympic title in London, she vowed to retire from the competitive grind of the Japanese martial art. She wanted to focus on other things, like becoming a firefighter.

That goal, however, “kind of dissolved” after the last games, she said. She is now planning to spend more time working on her foundation, Fearless, which aims to help victims of sexual abuse. Harrison herself endured years of sexual abuse by a previous judo coach.

Harrison became the first American to defend an Olympic judo title when she forced Audrey Tcheumeo of France to tap out in the final.

With just six seconds left in an otherwise scoreless final, Harrison trapped Tcheumeo in a move that threatened to break her arm, forcing her to submit and handing the American an automatic ippon victory.

“This is my legacy,” Harrison said. “I retire as a two-time Olympic champ, one of the greatest the sport has ever seen.”

Earlier, Harrison won two preliminary fights within minutes after pinning her opponents to the mat for 20 seconds.

“Judo is a sport where the margin of error is slim to none,” Pedro said. “For Kayla to (defend her title), really is epic.”

Also Thursday:

No surprise: Biles leads 1-2 finish for U.S. gymnasts

Simone Biles and Aly Raisman stood side by side in Rio Olympic Arena, clutching each other while waiting for the inevitable coronation.

When the floor exercise judges validated what Raisman and every other gymnast has known for years — that Biles is the greatest of her generation and perhaps of all time — the U.S. Olympic team captain let her good friend go.

Biles soared to the all-around title, putting the gap between herself and everyone else on full display for the whole world to see. Her total of 62.198 was well clear of Raisman and Russia’s Aliya Mustafina.

“It doesn’t even feel real,” Biles said. “To me I’m just the same Simone … but I feel the same. I just feel like I did my job tonight.”

One that she does better than anyone else.

Biles became the fourth straight American woman to capture the all-around and fifth overall. She and Raisman joined Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson in 2008 as the only U.S. gymnasts to win gold and silver in the same Olympic final.

“I told her before today, I want you to win and I want second,” Raisman said.

Phelps dominates 200 IM for his 22nd gold medal

The 200-meter individual medley field was chasing Michael Phelps, who powered past Leonidas of Rhodes.

Leonidas won 12 individual events over four Olympics. At 36, five years older than Phelps, he won his last three golds in 152 B.C., in footraces of about 200 and 400 meters and in a shield-carrying race.

Phelps surpassed Leonidas, winning his 13th individual gold (and 22nd gold overall and 26th medal). With the victory, Phelps also joined track and field Olympians Al Oerter and Carl Lewis as the only Americans to win an individual event four times.

Phelps was timed in 1 minute 54.66 seconds. He won by more than a bodylength, and the time was his second-best ever behind a 1:54.23 from Beijing.

Fiji wins men’s rugby for country’s first gold medal

Osea Kolinisau didn’t want merely to win Fiji’s first ever Olympic gold medal, he was determined to do it by showing the world how rugby sevens should be played.

Done, and done.

With his prime minister among the Fijians in the crowd, and knowing 900,000 more back in the Pacific expected nothing less than a gold medal, he kicked off a five-try, first-half barrage against Britain in the gold-medal match by reaching his arms back over his head as he was being tackled to score an early try in the corner.

The long-time entertainers of rugby sevens peaked in perfect time, running in for seven tries in a 43-7 win.

“It’s a massive achievement to get a first medal for your country, especially a gold medal,” said Kolinisau, the most-experienced Fijian ever on the international sevens circuit. “The achievement will be part of our history back home.”

After ensuring the victory that had been in the making since the International Olympic Committee in 2009 added Fiji’s national sport to the program for Rio de Janeiro, Kolinisau and his teammates huddled solemnly in the middle of the field and sang a hymn.

“It’s really emotional — to lead one’s country, especially to be the flag bearer,” Kolinisau said. “Coming into the final, I knew it was up for grabs. I told the boys, ‘We need to have fire in our heart, but have ice in our mind — be cool-headed.’”