152 articles
Isao Okano
Isao Okano (岡野功), born 1944, Japanese judoka, 1964 Tokyo Olympic middleweight (-80 kg) champion and 1965 Rio world champion; twice open-weight All Japan champion, later coach and author of Vital Judo.
Jeon Gi Yeong
Jeon Gi Yeong (전기영, Jeon Ki-Young), born 1973, South Korean judoka; 1996 Atlanta Olympic middleweight (-86 kg) champion and three-time world champion (1993, 1995, 1997); retired 1997; IJF Hall of Fame 2015; Yong-In University professor.
Jo Min Seon
Jo Min Seon (조민선, Cho Min-Sun), born 1972, South Korean judoka; 1996 Olympic gold and 2000 bronze in women's middleweight (≤66 kg), 1993 and 1995 world champion, 1988 demonstration event third place.
John Buchanan
John Buchanan is the name of several British and Australian sports figures, including an Olympic judoka, a 1908 Olympic gold-medal sailor, and Australia's record-setting cricket coach.
Judo (柔道)
Judo (柔道), the gentle way, is a Japanese martial art and Olympic combat sport founded in 1882 by Jigoro Kano at the Kodokan in Tokyo; scored by ippon and waza-ari under IJF rules, Olympic since 1964.
Judo at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Judo at the 2020 Summer Olympics (Tokyo 2020, held July 2021): 15 events at Nippon Budokan, 393 judoka from 128 nations; Japan won a record nine golds, France took the debut mixed team title.
Jurg Rothlisberger
Jürg Röthlisberger (born 1955, Zürich) is a Swiss judoka, 1980 Moscow Olympic middleweight (−86 kg) champion and 1976 Montreal half-heavyweight bronze medallist; his gold is Switzerland's only Olympic judo title.
Kanō Jigorō (嘉納治五郎)
Kanō Jigorō (嘉納治五郎, 1860–1938), Japanese educator, founder of judo and the Kodokan (1882), first Japanese IOC member (1909), author of seiryoku-zenyo and jita-kyoei principles.
Kaori Matsumoto
Kaori Matsumoto (松本 薫, born 1987, Kanazawa) is a Japanese judoka, women's -57 kg: Olympic gold London 2012, bronze Rio 2016, world champion 2010 and 2015; nicknamed The Beast; retired 2019, now an ice-cream developer.
Kayla Harrison
Kayla Harrison, American judoka and MMA fighter; two-time Olympic judo gold medalist (2012, 2016), two-time PFL women's lightweight champion, and UFC women's bantamweight champion since June 2025.
Keiji Suzuki
Keiji Suzuki (鈴木桂治), Japanese judoka born 1980 in Ibaraki; 2004 Athens Olympic +100 kg gold medalist, 2003 and 2005 world champion, later coach of Japan's men's national judo team and 7th dan.
Kenzo Nakamura
Kenzo Nakamura (中村兼三), Japanese judoka born 1973 in Fukuoka; Olympic gold medalist at -71 kg, Atlanta 1996, and 1997 Paris world champion; youngest of three champion brothers; later Asahi Kasei head coach.
Khasan Khalmurzayev
Khasan Khalmurzayev (Хасан Магометович Халмурзаев), Russian judoka born 1993 in Nazran, 2016 Olympic champion at -81 kg, 2010 Youth Olympic silver medalist, European champion, retired 2025.
Kilian le Blouch
Kilian le Blouch is a French judoka, born in 1989, who competed in the half-lightweight division at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Kim Jae Beom
Kim Jae Beom, also romanized Kim Jae-Bum, is a South Korean judoka who took half-middleweight silver at Beijing 2008 and gold at London 2012, beating Ole Bischof in both finals.
Kim Mi Jeong
Kim Mi Jeong (김•미정, also Kim Mi-Jung), South Korean judoka born 1971; won half-heavyweight (≤72 kg) gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 1991 world title, 1994 Asian Games gold, later national women's head coach.
Kosei Inoue
Kosei Inoue (井上康生), born 1978 in Miyakonojo, Japan, is a judoka who won Olympic gold at Sydney 2000 and three world titles, later Japan head coach and IJF Sport Director.
Kye Sun Hui
Kye Sun Hui (계순희, 桂順姫), born 1979 in Pyongyang, is a North Korean judoka, Olympic -48 kg champion at Atlanta 1996 after beating Ryoko Tamura, with Sydney bronze, Athens silver, and four world titles.
Lee Gyeong Geun
Lee Gyeong Geun (이경근, Lee Kyung-Keun, born 1962) is a South Korean judoka who won gold in men's half-lightweight (-65 kg) at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, beating Janusz Pawlowski; 1985 world silver, 1986 Asian Games gold, later a leading coach.
Lee Won Hui
Lee Won Hui (이원희, Lee Won-Hee), South Korean judoka born 1981: 2004 Athens Olympic gold and 2003 Osaka world title at -73 kg, 48-match win streak, first Korean judo grand slam.
Legna Verdecia
Legna Verdecia Rodríguez (born 1972, Manzanillo, Cuba), Cuban judoka, half-lightweight -52 kg. Olympic gold Sydney 2000 (beating Noriko Narazaki by ippon), bronze Atlanta 1996, world champion 1993; three Pan American and three Central American and Caribbean titles.
List of judo techniques
List of judo techniques: the Kodokan's official classification of 100 judo waza, 68 nage-waza throws and 32 katame-waza grappling techniques, plus atemi-waza strikes; basis for IJF rules.
Lucie Decosse
Lucie Decosse, French judoka (born 1981, Chaumont), Olympic champion -70 kg London 2012, silver Beijing 2008, three-time world champion (2005, 2010, 2011), four-time European champion; French women's head coach since 2025.
Lukas Krpalek
Lukáš Krpálek (Lukas Krpalek), Czech judoka born 1990 in Jihlava; double Olympic champion, Rio 2016 at -100 kg and Tokyo 2020 at +100 kg, the first judoka to win both heaviest categories; also two-time world and three-time European champion.
Madeleine Malonga
Madeleine Malonga, French judoka (under 78 kg), 2019 world champion, Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver and mixed-team gold, Paris 2024 mixed-team gold; club Etoile Sportive Blanc-Mesnil.
Majlinda Kelmendi
Majlinda Kelmendi, born 1991 in Peja, Kosovo, is a retired judoka, Olympic gold medalist at Rio 2016 in women's -52 kg, Kosovo's first Olympic medalist, two-time world champion, now a coach.
Maki Tsukada
Maki Tsukada (塚田真希), Japanese judoka born 1982 in Ibaraki; 2004 Olympic +78 kg gold, 2008 silver, 2007 open-weight world champion, and first female Japan women's national judo head coach (2025).
Makoto Takimoto
Makoto Takimoto (瀧本誠), Japanese judoka born 1974 in Iwai, Ibaraki; won gold in men's half-middleweight (≤81 kg) judo at Sydney 2000, beating Jo In-Cheol by hantei, then fought in PRIDE mixed martial arts before retiring in 2009.
Mansur Isayev
Mansur Isayev (Мансур Мустафаевич Исаев), Russian judoka born 1986 in Kizilyurt, Dagestan; Olympic gold medalist in men's 73 kg judo at London 2012, beating world champion Riki Nakaya; 2009 world bronze medalist; retired 2017.
Marc Alexandre
Marc Alexandre (Marc Robert Alexandre), born 1959 in Paris, French judoka, USO Orléans; Olympic gold 1988 Seoul -71 kg, bronze 1984 Los Angeles -65 kg, world silver 1987 Essen; later French national coach and Pôle France Marseille head.