James A. Pedro is an American retired World Champion and Olympic judoka, as well as a current judo coach. Pedro currently holds a 7th degree black belt in judo. He is the coach of Kayla Harrison, the first and currently only American to win an Olympic gold medal in judo.
Jason Newth Morris is an American retired judoka. He was a four-time Olympian and 2008 Olympic Coach, best known for winning the silver medal in the –78 kg weight category in the 1992 Summer Olympics and a Bronze Medal in the 1993 World Judo Championships. He is a Hachidan his favorite techniques are Uchi Mata, Tai Otoshi, and his "Sticker or Sticky Foot". He was also an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler and 2x EIWA conference champion at Syracuse University.
Vincenzo Maenza is an Italian Greco-Roman wrestler. He won two gold medals and a silver medal at the 1984, 1988, and 1992 Olympic Games.
Ole Bischof is a German judoka. He is trained by 1984 Olympic gold medalist Frank Wieneke.
Teddy Pierre-Marie Riner is a French judoka. An eleven-time world champion in the heavyweight division, two-time openweight world champion and one-time world champion with the French men's team, he is the first and only judoka in history to win twelve gold medals at the World Judo Championships. He is also the only judoka to be a five-time Olympic champion; having won the gold medal in the Men's +100 kg event at the Summer Olympics three times and, as a member of the French team, in the mixed team event twice. Additionally, he is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist, a five-time European champion, a four-time World Masters gold medalist and eleven-time Grand Slam winner in his weight category.
Asen Zlatev is a former Bulgarian weightlifter.
Kosovo made its Olympic debut as a member state in 2016. Its team is organized by the Olympic Committee of Kosovo (OCK), created in 1992 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 9 December 2014. It won its first medal in its debut appearance in 2016, when judoka Majlinda Kelmendi took gold in the women's -52 kg category. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Nora Gjakova won gold in the women's judo -57 kg class, and Distria Krasniqi won gold in the women's judo -48 kg class.
Hirotaka Okada is a retired judoka who competed in the –78 kg and –86 kg divisions.
Torsten Bréchôt is a male retired judoka from Germany, who competed for East Germany at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There he won a bronze medal in the Men's Half-Middleweight (–78 kg) division after being defeated in the semi-finals by West Germany's eventual silver medalist Frank Wieneke.
Aleksandar Varbanov was a weightlifter for Bulgaria. Varbanov is one of the greatest weightlifters of all-time. Alexander has the 9th highest Sinclair ever of 485.78 made up of a 167.5 kg snatch and a 215 kg clean and jerk at under 75 kg in body weight! He is without a doubt the greatest clean and jerker of that bodyweight of all-time. As well as being a sensational athlete, Alexander Varbanov was part of the most dominant team in weightlifting history: The Bulgarian national team of the 1980s. He was also coached by the most successful coach of all-time, the great Ivan Abadjiev, a man whom Varbanov referred to as being ‘closer to me than my father. Alex has won numerous World Championships and European Championships in the 67.5 and 75 kg bodyweight divisions and a Bronze Medal from the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He has earned 10 official world records two still current to this date, 215.5 kg Clean and Jerk and 382.5 kg Total. He started training in 1977. Until 1981 he was a competitor of the native Novi Pazar. Then in the period 1981-1984 he competed for CSKA Sofia. Then until 1990 he was part of the Levski club. From 1990 to 1995 Varbanov competed for the German team AC Mutterstadt in Weightlifting Bundesliga. He has built a strong reputation of a weightlifting professional. He has a Master’s degree from the National Sports Academy of Bulgaria and is a Honored Master of Sports. Alex is NCCP certified Olympic Weightlifting Competition Development coach. He now lives and works as a weightlifting trainer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Mayra Aguiar da Silva is a Brazilian judoka. She was a bronze medallist in three consecutive Olympics, 2012, 2016 and 2020. She is also three-time world champion. She is the first Brazilian woman to win three Olympic medals in an individual sport, being the best female judoka in the history of Brazil.
Alice Schlesinger is an Israeli-British retired judoka and sambo competitor. She is a shodan in Judo.
Esther San Miguel Busto is a Spanish judoka. She has won six national titles and two European titles for the half-heavyweight division (78 kg). She is also a bronze medalist at the 2003 World Judo Championships in Osaka, Japan, and has captured a total of twenty-seven World Cup medals, including eight golds. San Miguel is a member of Centro de Alto Rendimiento Madrid Judo Club, and is coached by Sacramento Moyano.
Clarisse Bogdanna Agbegnenou is a French judoka. Competing in the −63 kg weight division she won the European title in 2013, the world title in 2014, an Olympic silver medal at the Rio 2016 Games, an Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games, and the bronze medal at the 2024 Games in Paris, in her home country.
Sagi Aharon Muki is an Israeli Olympic and former world champion half-middleweight judoka. Muki is the 2019 World Champion. He also won the 2015 and 2018 European championships. In the mixed team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Muki was a member of the Israeli team that won the bronze medal.
Diane Bell is a British former judoka. She won the 56–61 kg event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, but at the time women's judo was still a demonstration sport, so unlike the men Bell did not enter the list of Olympic medalists in judo. She also won two World Judo Championships, a Commonwealth Games gold and three European Judo Championships.
This page lists notable people from Dagestan.
Beata Pacut-Kłoczko is a Polish judoka. She is a bronze medalist at the 2022 World Judo Championships and a gold medalist at the 2021 European Judo Championships. She represented Poland at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Toyko, Japan and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
Raz Hershko is an Israeli Olympic silver medalist and European champion judoka. She was the 2015 European U18 Champion, the 2017 European U23 championships silver medalist, and won a bronze medal in the 2023 world championships. She competed for Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal in mixed team. She is the 2024 European Champion. Representing Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Hershko won the silver medal in judo in the women's +78 kg, and also competed in the mixed team event, in which Team Israel came in ninth.
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