Judo (Judo) - combat sports without weapons, which improves a person not only physically, but also psychologically. And although judo was born in Japan, one judoka became the president of Russia. Yes, we are talking about Vladimir Putin, who became the first Russian to receive the high 8th dan in 2012 (out of 10 possible).
Finding the best of the best in judo is not easy. To do this, we compiled a list of 10 best judokas in historyhaving won the most awards at the Olympic Games. Wins at the judo world championships 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, not so much physical parameters are important as technique and tactics. After the 1984 Games, the absolute category was excluded from the Olympics program.
Yamashita four times became the gold medalist of the World Cup, and before his departure at the zenith of fame, won 203 victories in a row. He is currently Vice President of the Japan Judo Federation.
9. Xi'an Dongmei (China)
- 2004, Athens - gold medal.
- 2008, Beijing - a gold medal.
The famous judoka from the national team of China won two gold medals in the weight of 52 kg. She also managed to become the silver medalist of the Asian Championships twice in 1995 and 2004.
In 2018, the name Xi'an was listed in the International Judo Federation (IJF) Hall of Fame.
8. Ayumi Tanimoto (Japan)
- 2004, Athens - gold medal.
- 2008, Beijing - a gold medal.
One of the best judokas in the world stands for the national team of Japan. In the piggy bank of her awards is not only the Olympic gold. Performing 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 of the World Cup in 2001 and 2007 and silver in 2005.
As with Xi'an Dongmei, Ayumi entered the IJF Hall of Fame in 2018.
7. Masato Utishiba (Japan)
- 2004, Athens - gold medal.
- 2008, Beijing - a gold medal.
Utishiba began his career in weight 60 kg, but then moved on to the more “heavyweight” category - 66 kg. He took not only gold at two Olympics, but also silver at the 2005 World Cup and bronze at 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 scandal. In 2013, Masato Utishiba was sentenced to five years in prison for raping the girl he trained. The judoka himself claimed that sexual contact was by mutual agreement, 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 also many medals at the European Championships. Having completed his brilliant sports career, Seisenbacher in 2012 became the coach of the Azerbaijani judo team.
Under his leadership, athletes from Azerbaijan successfully performed at the World Cup in Brazil. And Elkhan Mammadov for the first time in the history of Azerbaijani judo won the world championship.
However, in 2017, the Austrian was arrested in Kiev on charges of sexual crimes.
5. David Douillet (France)
- 1992, Barcelona - a bronze medal.
- 1996, Atlanta - Gold Medal.
- 2000, Sydney - Gold Medal.
The top 5 best judokas in the world are opened 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 mass of the sumo wrestler. He was the first non-Japanese judoka to win two world titles (in his weight category, as well as in the absolute category) during one 1995 World Cup.
In total, Douillet took gold five times at the world championships, and also twice received a gold medal at the European championships. And as many times he was awarded bronze and silver.
In 2011, the International Judo Federation named David Duye the best male judo player in history.
4. Tadahiro Nomura (Japan)
- 1996, Atlanta is a gold medal.
- 2000, Sydney - Gold Medal.
- 2004, Athens - gold medal.
For many Olympic athletes, a 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 elite." However, the legend of modern judo, the Japanese Tadahiro Nomura, rose to the hitherto unattainable top in his sport. He is the only judoka to win three Olympic gold medals in a row.
Nomura’s sporting achievements do not end there. He is the owner of the gold medal of the 1997 World Cup and the bronze medal received in 2003.
3. Driulis Gonzalez (Cuba)
- 1992, Barcelona - a bronze medal.
- 1996, Atlanta - Gold Medal.
- 2000, Sydney - silver medal.
- 2004, Athens - a bronze medal.
The Olympics is an honorable, but very difficult test for an athlete. Especially if this is not the first Olympics in your career. Opponents are getting younger, or in fact you are getting older, and training methods continue to improve.
And the fact that the Cuban athlete is one of the two female judokas who participated in the five Olympic Games shows her high skill and excellent physical shape.
Gonzalez took gold three times at the World Cup, twice won silver and as many times - bronze.
2. Ryoko Thani (Japan)
- 1992, Barcelona - silver medal.
- 1996, Atlanta - silver medal.
- 2000, Sydney - Gold Medal.
- 2004, Athens - gold medal.
- 2008, Beijing - a bronze medal.
For a long time, Ryouko Tani held the title of the youngest world champion in judo history. She was a little over 18 years old when she won a gold medal in Canadian Hamilton in 1993.
But this is not what makes the Japanese the best judoka of all time. She is the only woman in the history of female judo who has become a 7-time world champion and has received five Olympic medals.
Ryoko Tani is so popular in Japan that she even became a character in the manga about judo (Yawara!). Her name is given to the heroes of the computer games World Heroes 2 (Ryoko Izumo) and Fighter’s History (Ryoko Kano).
1. Teddy Riner (France)
- 2008, Beijing - a bronze medal.
- 2012, London - gold medal.
- 2016, Rio de Janeiro - gold medal.
This is the most titled judoka in the world in history. Bend your fingers:
- two-time Olympic champion (2012, 2016);
- 11-time world champion;
- five-time European champion;
- thrice 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 athlete before him. Riner is the first person to win 8 gold medals at the World Judo Championships, doing this annually, from 2007 to 2015 (except for 2016).
“Teddy Bear”, as the fans affectionately call their idol, lost only twice in their entire adult sports career. And since 2010, the best judoka in the world has not lost a single battle, 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 in whose piggy bank there are immediately 4 Olympic awards.
