Mudranov, the 2014 World Championship silver medallist and European Games champion, had not even known if he would be able to participate here until four days ago as Russian athletes were forced to wait to be given permission by the International Olympic Committee. 

The 30-year-old from Baksan produced a series of performances which combined attacking speed with defensive guile to set up a final with Kazakhstan's world champion Yeldos Smetov.

Mudranov overcame tiredness to triumph with a golden score after both fighters were unable to register a point in regulation time.

A waza-ari deep in the extra-period proved decisive to claim a victory that, while only receiving a low key reception within the arena, was hugely significant in a wider sense.

Russia's athletics and weightlifting teams are banned from these Olympics following claims of state-sponsored doping and the International Olympic Committee resisted huge pressure to enforce a complete blanket ban.

The IOC allowed the International Federations to make choices on an individual basis.

International Judo Federation (IJF) President Marius Vizer had been among the most strident critic of such a suspension and it was, therefore, fitting that his sport should produce the first Russian gold medal of Rio 2016. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also the honorary President of the IJF and had travelled to London four years ago to support his country's fighters at the Olympics. 

"We were sure we would not be expelled," Mudranov said afterwards.

 "It is unfair to expel all the athletes from our team.

"We were told we were coming and were quite sure we would be accepted."

Japan's Naohisa Takato and Uzbekistan's Diyorbek Urozboev each earned bronze medals to complete the podium

The night's loudest cheers, though, were reserved for Argentina.

Supporters dressed in blue and white offered fantastic backing as Paula Pareto added the Olympic gold medal in the under 48kg category to the World Championships gold medal she had won last year. 

It was her country's first-ever Olympic gold medal in judo. 

She dominated South Korea's Jeong Bokyeong in the final to win with a waza-ari.

Japan enjoyed another podium success as Ami Kondo shared the bronze medal with Otgontsetseg Galbadrakh of Kazakhstan.

The Arena was at least 70 per cent full but there was disappointment for the home crowd when defending champion Sarah Menezes lost her quarter-final match against Cuba's Dayaris Mestre Alvarez.

Disappointment for the 26-year-old was compounded by pain after she dislocated her elbow in her repechage bout with Mongolia's 2013 world champion Urantsetseg Munkhbat.