Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport, and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally. Judo was created in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō as an eclectic martial art, distinguishing itself from its predecessors due to an emphasis on "randori" instead of "kata" alongside its removal of striking and weapon training elements. Judo rose to prominence for its dominance over established jujutsu schools in tournaments hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, resulting in its adoption as the department's primary martial art. A judo practitioner is called a "judoka", and the judo uniform is called "judogi".
Arash Miresmaeili is an Iranian judoka. He now serves as the President of the Iranian Judo Federation.
Ariel "Arik" Ze'evi is a retired Israeli dan 6 black belt in judo. He had a long and successful career competing in half-heavyweight judo competitions. He won an Olympic bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 kg judo competition.
Hidehiko Yoshida is a Japanese gold-medalist judoka and retired mixed martial artist. He is a longtime veteran of Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships, competing in the Middleweight (93kg) and Heavyweight divisions. He won gold at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games at –78 kg. Yoshida also had two famous fights with MMA pioneer Royce Gracie that resulted in a no-contest and a time-limit draw.
Willem "Wim" Ruska was a Dutch judoka and professional wrestler. He is the first athlete to win two gold medals in Judo in one Olympics – in the heavyweight and absolute categories in 1972.
Kosei Inoue is a Japanese judoka. He won the gold medal in the under 100 kg class at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He is well known for his specialty throws, Uchi Mata and Ōuchi gari.
Armen Yuryevich Bagdasarov is an Uzbek-Armenian judoka. He is the first Olympic medalist for independent Uzbekistan.
Libya competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The country's participation in Sydney marked its sixth appearance at a Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1964 Games. The delegation included three male athletes; marathon runner Adel Edeli, judoka Tarek Ayad and Nizar Mohamed Naeeli in taekwondo. Edeli did not finish his race, while Ayad and Naeeli were both eliminated in the first bouts of their respective tournaments.
The International Judo Federation (IJF) is the international governing body for judo, founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe and Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National Federations on all continents. There are over 20 million people around the globe who practice judo, according to the IJF.
Michael Scott Tully is an American pole vaulter. He represented the United States twice in the Olympics, earning a silver in 1984, and held the American pole vault record from 1984 to 1985.
James Steven Bregman was a member of the first American team to compete in judo at the Summer Olympics. A founding member and President of the United States Judo Federation, in his competitive career he was a bronze Olympic medalist (1964), a World Championships bronze medalist (1965), a Pan American Championships gold medalist, and a Maccabiah Games gold medalist (1965).
John Gates Powell was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the discus throw. He set a world record at 69.08 meters in 1975, and his personal best of 71.26 meters ties him for ninth place in the all-time performers list.
Kevin Yoshimi Asano is a retired judoka from the United States, who won the silver medal in the men's extra-lightweight competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics. On his way to capturing the medal he beat Shinji Hosokawa, who was the reigning world champion and 1984 Gold Medalist. Asano came close to winning the gold medal, but lost it on a one-point penalty to Kim Jae-Yup of South Korea.
Israel has competed at the Olympic Games as a nation since 1952. Its National Olympic Committee was formed in 1933, during the British Mandate of Palestine. Israel has sent a team to each Summer Olympic Games since 1952, and to each Winter Olympic Games since 1994. The country became a member of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in 1994.
Islam El Shehaby is an Egyptian former judoka.
Equatorial Guinea competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, which was held from 8 to 24 August 2008. The country's participation at London marked its seventh appearance in the Summer Olympics since its début at the 1984 Summer Olympics. The delegation included the sprinter Reginaldo Ndong, middle-distance runner Emilia Mikue Ondo and half-middleweight judoka José Mba Nchama. Ndong and Mikue Ondo qualified for the Games through wildcard places and Mba Nchama entered through his ranking at the 2007 African Judo Championships. Mikue Ondo was chosen as the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Ndong and Mikue Ondo progressed no farther than the first round of their respective events and Mba Nchama was eliminated from contention in the second round of the contest.
Chiaki Ishii is a Japanese Brazilian judoka, who won Brazil's first Olympic medal in judo at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany.
Keith Nakasone is a former competitive judoka and native of Okinawa, Japan. Nakasone is a four time (1974–1977) national collegiate judo champion at San Jose State University competing in the 132 lbs division. In 1978, Keith suffered a serious ankle injury. Nakasone qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the U.S. Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union. He is one of 461 U.S. Olympians to receive a Congressional Gold Medal as a member of the 1980 Olympic team.
Steve Seck is a former competitive judoka for the United States. Seck was the 1976 alternate for the U.S. Judo Team.
The 2023 World Judo Championships were held at the Ali Bin Hamad al-Attiyah Arena in Doha, Qatar, from 7 to 14 May 2023 as part of the IJF World Tour and during the 2024 Summer Olympics qualification period, concluding with a mixed team event on the final day.
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