Judo (Judo) is a combat sport without weapons, which improves a person not only physically, but also psychologically. And although judo originated in Japan, one judoka became the president of Russia. Yes, we are talking about Vladimir Putin, who became the first Russian to receive a high 8th dan in 2012 (out of 10 possible).
Defining the best of the best in judo is not easy. To do this, we have compiled a list of 10 best judokas in historywho have won the most awards in the Olympic Games. The victories at the World Judo Championship were also taken into account.
10. Yasuhiro Yamashita (Japan)
- 1984, Los Angeles Olympics - gold medal.
This Japanese judoka became the last Olympic champion to compete in the absolute category. Athletes of any weight could compete in it to demonstrate that in judo, it is not so much physical parameters that are important as technique and tactics. After the 1984 Games, the absolute category was excluded from the Olympics program.
Yamashita became the gold medalist of the world championship four times, and before his retirement at the zenith of fame won 203 victories in a row. He is currently the Vice President of the Japan Judo Federation.
9.Xi'an Dongmei (China)
- 2004, Athens - gold medal.
- 2008, Beijing - gold medal.
The famous judoka from the Chinese national team won two gold medals in the 52kg division. She also managed to become the silver medalist of the Asian Championships twice in 1995 and 2004.
In 2018, Xi'an was inducted into the International Judo Federation (IJF) Hall of Fame.
8. Ayumi Tanimoto (Japan)
- 2004, Athens - gold medal.
- 2008, Beijing - gold medal.
One of the best judokas in the world plays for the Japanese national team. In the piggy bank of her awards, not only the gold of the Olympic Games. In the weight category up to 63 kg, the Japanese athlete won the Asian Games in 2001 and 2004, and also won two bronze medals at the World Championships in 2001 and 2007 and silver in 2005.
As with Xian Dongmei, Ayumi was inducted into the IJF Hall of Fame in 2018.
7. Masato Uchishiba (Japan)
- 2004, Athens - gold medal.
- 2008, Beijing - gold medal.
Uchishiba started his sports career in the weight category of 60 kg, but then moved to a more “heavyweight” category - 66 kg. He took not only gold at two Olympics, but also silver at the 2005 World Championships and bronze at the Asian competitions in 2002.
Unfortunately, the name of one of the best judokas in the world is associated with both glorious sports victories and a loud scandal. In 2013, Masato Uchishiba was sentenced to five years in prison for raping a girl he trained. The judoka himself claimed that sexual contact was by mutual consent, but the court did not believe him.
6.Peter Seisenbacher (Austria)
- 1984, Los Angeles - Gold Medal.
- 1988, Seoul - gold medal.
The Austrian judo master took sixth place in the ranking of the best judokas of our time thanks to two gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, a gold medal at the World Championships, and many medals at the European Championships.Having completed his brilliant sports career, Seisenbacher became the coach of the Azerbaijani national judo team in 2012.
Under his leadership, athletes from Azerbaijan successfully performed at the World Championships in Brazil. And Elkhan Mammadov won the world championship for the first time in the history of Azerbaijani judo.
However, in 2017, the Austrian was arrested in Kiev on charges of sexual crimes.
5. David Douillet (France)
- 1992, Barcelona - bronze medal.
- 1996, Atlanta - Gold Medal.
- 2000, Sydney - gold medal.
The top 5 best judokas in the world are discovered by a big man in every sense of the word. The weight of the Frenchman David Douillet is 125 kg, which is close to the average weight of a sumo wrestler. He was the first non-Japanese judo wrestler to win two world titles (in his weight class as well as an open class) in one 1995 World Championship.
In total, Douillet took gold five times at the world championships, and also twice received a gold medal at the European championships. And the same number of times he was awarded bronze and silver.
In 2011, the International Judo Federation named David Duye the best male judoka in history.
4. Tadahiro Nomura (Japan)
- 1996, Atlanta - gold medal.
- 2000, Sydney - gold medal.
- 2004, Athens - gold medal.
For many Olympic athletes, the gold medal is considered the main achievement in their sports career. And those who are able to win two medals deserve the status of “elite of the elite”. However, the legend of modern judo, the Japanese Tadahiro Nomura, has risen to a hitherto unattainable peak in his sport. He is the only judoka to have won three Olympic gold medals in a row.
Nomura's sporting achievements do not end there. He is the recipient of the 1997 World Championship Gold Medal and 2003 Bronze Medal.
3. Driulis Gonzalez (Cuba)
- 1992, Barcelona - bronze medal.
- 1996, Atlanta - Gold Medal.
- 2000, Sydney - silver medal.
- 2004, Athens - bronze medal.
The Olympics are an honorable but very difficult test for an athlete. Especially if this is not the first Olympics in his career. The opponents are getting younger, or in fact, you are getting older, and the training methods keep getting better.
And the fact that the Cuban athlete is one of only two female judokas who competed in five Olympic Games shows her great skill and excellent physical shape.
Gonzalez took gold three times at the World Championships, twice won silver and the same number of times - bronze.
2. Ryouko Tani (Japan)
- 1992, Barcelona - silver medal.
- 1996, Atlanta - silver medal.
- 2000, Sydney - gold medal.
- 2004, Athens - gold medal.
- 2008, Beijing - bronze medal.
For a long time, Ryouko Tani held the title of the youngest world champion in the history of judo. She was just over 18 years old when she won the gold medal at Hamilton, Canada in 1993.
But that's not what makes the Japanese woman the best judoka of all time. She is the only woman in the history of women's judo to become a 7-time world champion and has received five Olympic medals.
Ryouko Tani is so popular in Japan that she even became a character in a judo manga (Yawara!). Heroes of computer games World Heroes 2 (Ryoko Izumo) and Fighter's History (Ryoko Kano) bear her name.
1. Teddy Riner (France)
- 2008, Beijing - bronze medal.
- 2012, London - gold medal.
- 2016, Rio de Janeiro - gold medal.
He is the most titled judoka in the world in history. Curl your fingers:
- two-time Olympic champion (2012, 2016);
- 11-time world champion;
- five-time European champion;
- three times athlete of the year in France;
- gold finalist of the Mediterranean Games.
The French judoka is only 29 years old, but he dominates judo like no other athlete before him. Riner is the first person to win 8 gold medals at the World Judo Championships, doing so annually from 2007 to 2015 (excluding 2016).
"Teddy Bear", as fans affectionately call their idol, has lost only twice in his entire adult sports career. And since 2010, the best judoka in the world has not lost a single fight, having already won more than 140 victories.
In 2020, Riner intends to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics. If he succeeds, the French athlete will go down in history as the only male judoka who has 4 Olympic awards in his piggy bank.