Sagi Aharon Muki (or Moki; he, שגיא אהרון מוקי; born 17 May 1992) is an Israeli half-middleweight

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

. Muki is the 2019 World Champion. He also won the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

European championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

. In August 2011 Muki won the European Cup U20 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in the under 73 kilogram (161-pound) category. He won

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s in February 2013 at the European Open in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, Georgia, in June 2013 at the European Open

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, and in October 2013 at the European Open

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

in the under 73 weight class. In May 2014, he won the Baku Grand Slam in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

in the under 73 kg category, and the following month he won another

International Judo Federation The International Judo Federation (IJF) was 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 ...

World Tour gold medal, this time at the Havana Grand Prix in the under 73 kg category. Muki is a two-time Israeli judo champion. In June 2015, representing

Israel at the 2015 European Games Israel competed at the 2015 European Games, in Baku, Azerbaijan from 12 to 28 June 2015. The 2015 European Games represents Israel's largest ever delegation to a sports competition. Prior to the start of the event Israel planned to send 141 ath ...

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, Azerbaijan, he won the gold medal and the European championship in judo in the under 73 kg weight class. Competing for

Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's sixteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Committee of Israel confirmed a team of 47 athletes, 22 men and 25 wom ...

he came in 5th place. He was ranked No. 1 in the world in March 2019.

Early life

Muki was born and raised in

Netanya Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, to a family of

Mizrahi Jewish Mizrahi Jews ( he, יהודי המִזְרָח), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () or ''Mizrachi'' () and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained i ...

( Yemenite-Jewish) descent. His parents are Rahamim and Orit Muki. At the age of eight, he chose to focus on judo, which he had been practicing for four years, despite excelling in football for a Netanya junior soccer team. He attended Tchernichovsky High School in Netanya. As of June 2015 he still resided with his parents, for reasons of convenience and proximity to the

Wingate Institute Wingate Institute ( he, מכון וינגייט), officially Orde Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports ( he, המכון לחינוך גופני ולספורט ע"ש אורד וינגייט), is a sports training institute located so ...

sports training facility. He served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

as a Sergeant in the Vehicle Division at the Sde Dov airbase.

Judo career

For 19 years, since the age of four, Muki has been coached by Israeli judoka

Oren Smadja Shay-Oren Smadja ( he, אורן סמדג'ה; born June 20, 1970) is a former Israeli judoka and a judo coach. Smadja won the Olympic Games, Olympic bronze medal in judo at the 1992 Summer Olympics, making him the first Israeli man to win an Olymp ...

, who won the Olympic

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

in the under weight category in

judo at the 1992 Summer Olympics The Judo competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics was contested in fourteen weight classes, seven each for men and women. The seven men's weight classes continued to be those first used in 1980. This was the first Olympic competition to award meda ...

in Barcelona. Smadja is also the national team coach, and Muki views Smadja as a fatherly figure. His club is Maccabi

, and he met future Israeli judoka world champion

Yarden Gerbi Yarden Gerbi (or Jerbi, he, ירדן ג'רבי; born July 8, 1989) is an Israeli former judoka world champion. She won an Olympic bronze medal competing for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Women's 63 kg Judo. Gerbi won the gold m ...

there when he was four years old. He noted in 2013: "It's important to me to serve the State as an athlete. This year, I got to play the national anthem in Georgia, Estonia, and Belarus, and last year in Germany. Every time the audience stands for the anthem, it's fun and brings me great pride". In April 2011 he came in fifth in the World U-20 Junior Championships in the under 73-kilogram (161-pound) category. In August 2011 Muki won the European Cup U20 in Berlin in the under 73 kg category. In September 2011, he came in third in the European U20 Championships in

Lommel Lommel () is a municipality and a city in the Belgian province of Limburg. The Kempen city has about 34,000 inhabitants and is part of the electoral district and the judicial district Lommel Neerpelt. Besides residential town of Lommel also has ...

, Belgium, in the under 73 kg category. In December 2012, he won the Israeli Championship in the under category in

Ra'anana Ra'anana ( he, רַעֲנָנָּה, lit. "Fresh") is a city in the southern Sharon Plain of the Central District of Israel. It was founded in 1922 as an American-Jewish settlement, 1 km south of the village of Tabsur, where an important ...

, Israel. Muki won a

at the European Open in February 2013 in

, Georgia, in the under 73 kg category. He also won gold medals at the European Open Tallinn in June 2013, and the European Open Minsk in October 2013 in the under 73 weight class. He won the Israeli Championship in the under 81 kg category in Ra'anana, Israel in December 2013. In May 2014, Muki won the Baku Grand Slam in

in the under 73 kg category. In June 2014, he won another

World Tour gold medal, at the Havana Grand Prix in the under 73 kg category. In October 2014, he was ranked number three in the world in his weight class, and in May 2015 he had moved up to number two in the world.

European Champion

In June 2015, representing

in judo in the under 73 kg category in Baku, Muki won the first gold medal for Israel in the inaugural

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic Games, Olympic tradition contested by sportsperson, athletes from European nations and several European Olympic Committees#Notes, transcontinental countries. The Games were ...

, and in doing so won the 2015 European Judo Championship. In the quarterfinals he defeated then-reigning European champion

Dex Elmont Dex Elmont (born 10 January 1984 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch retired judoka. His father Ricardo is a former judoka himself, who represented Suriname at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His older brother Guillaume Guillaume ma ...

of the Netherlands. He defeated

Nugzar Tatalashvili Nugzar Tatalashvili ( ka, ნუგზარ ტატალაშვილი; born March 20, 1990, in Gori, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union) is a Georgian judoka. He competed in the men's 73 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics and was elimin ...

of Georgia in the final, throwing him for an

ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In Judo In Judo, an ippon may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the four ...

twenty-eight seconds prior to the end of their match, and after his victory he pointed with a smile at the Israeli flag on his

judogi ''Judogi'' (柔道着 or 柔道衣), also called keikogi or dogi, is the formal Japanese name for the traditional uniform used for Judo practice and competition. A judogi is somewhat similar to a karategi (空手着 or 空手衣, Karate uniform) ...

. He became the first Israeli men's European Judo Champion since

Ariel Ze'evi Ariel "Arik" Ze'evi ( he, אריאל "אריק" זאבי, born 16 January 1977) is a retired Israeli dan 6 black belt in Judo. He had a long and successful career competing in half-heavyweight Judo competitions. He is an Olympic bronze medal fin ...

, who won the championship four times. Muki received

NIS Nis, Niš, NiS or NIS may refer to: Places * Niš, a city in Serbia * Nis, Iran, a village * Ness, Lewis ( gd, Nis, links=no), a village in the Outer Hebrides islands Businesses and organizations * Naftna Industrija Srbije, Petroleum Industry o ...

40,000 (approximately $10,500) from the Israel Olympic Committee for his achievement, the highest amount of any Israeli athlete, and a monthly stipend of NIS 8,500. In October 2015, Muki won the bronze medal in the Paris Grand Slam after defeating Shuai Sun from China. Two weeks later on 31 October 2015, he won a bronze medal in the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam after defeating Belgian

Dirk Van Tichelt Dirk Van Tichelt (born 10 June 1984) is a Belgian judoka. His biggest achievement was his European title in Lisbon. In the same year, at the Beijing Olympics he came fifth after losing in the first round to gold-medallist Elnur Mammadli and l ...

Rio 2016

In August 2016, Muki competed for the first time in his career for

at the age of 24. In the first round he defeated former European champion Rok Drakšič of Slovenia with an ippon. In the second round he beat Igor Wandtke of Germany. In the quarter-finals, Muki defeated

Nicholas Delpopolo Nicholas Delpopolo (born February 8, 1989) is an American judoka. He competed in the Judo at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 73 kg, men's 73 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics; after defeating Cheung Chi Yip in the second round and Dirk ...

of the United States. In the semi-finals, Muki lost to Rustam Orujov of Azerbaijan, and subsequently he was also defeated by

Lasha Shavdatuashvili Lasha Shavdatuashvili ( ka, ლაშა შავდათუაშვილი; born 31 January 1992) is a Georgian judoka. Shavdatuashvili is one of the most successful judoka of the early 21st century, having won Olympic medals at the 2012, ...

of Georgia for the bronze medal. Muki finished in fifth place. On 7 October 2017, Muki competed at the 2017 Tashkent Grand Prix, his first competition since the 2016 olympics, and won the gold medal. On 27 April 2018, Muki took part in the

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

and won the gold medal in the under 81 kg weight category. In the first round he defeated Jonathan Allardon of France by ippon, in the second round he defeated

Matthias Casse Matthias Casse (born 19 February 1997) is a Belgian judoka who won the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. In 2017, Matthias Casse became junior world champion in Zagreb, the first Belgian male judoka to achieve this since Johan Laats i ...

of Belgium by

waza-ari is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon'' or ''waza-ari'' contest, usually judo, karate or jujutsu. ''Waza-ari'' in judo A ''waza-ari'' is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in judo, the ...

. He went on to defeat

László Csoknyai László Csoknyai (born 25 October 1987, in Dunaújváros) is a Hungarian judoka. He competed in the men's 81 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics; after defeating Putu Wiradamungga in the second round, he was eliminated by Kim Jae-Bum in the ...

of Hungary by ippon in the quarter final and

Aslan Lappinagov Aslan Alanovich Lappinagov (russian: Аслан Аланович Лаппинагов; born 9 August 1993) is a Russian judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wres ...

of Russia by shidos in the semi-final. In the final Muki defeated

Sami Chouchi Sami Chouchi (born 22 March 1993) is a Belgian judoka. He competes in the -81 kg weight category and won a silver medal in the 2018 European Judo Championships. He won one of the bronze medals in his event at the 2022 Judo Grand Slam Paris ...

of Belgium by waza-ari in golden score.

World Champion

At the

2019 World Judo Championships The 2019 World Judo Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Schedule ''All times are local (Japan Standard Time, UTC+9).'' Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events Mixed events Prize m ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Muki won the gold medal in the under 81 kg weight category. Coming to the competition, Muki was ranked 2nd in the world and 5 out of his 6 matches that day, he won by

Ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In Judo In Judo, an ippon may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the four ...

. He won his first 4 matches by Ippon and in the semi-final he defeated Mohamed Abdelaal of Egypt by

Waza-ari is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon'' or ''waza-ari'' contest, usually judo, karate or jujutsu. ''Waza-ari'' in judo A ''waza-ari'' is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in judo, the ...

. In the final, Muki faced

of Belgium and won by Ippon due to 2 Waza-ari scores. In 2021, he won a bronze medal in

World Masters The World Masters, known for sponsorship reasons as the Mita/Sky World Masters, was a snooker tournament held between 13 and 26 January 1991. Conceived by promoter Barry Hearn, the tournament had a similar format to the Grand Slam events in tenn ...

, held in Doha, Qatar.

After World Championship

Muki represented

Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo with its largest contingent to date − a delegation of 90 athletes, 55 men and 35 women, who competed in 15 different sports. This was almost double the previous number of 47 athletes who repre ...

, competing at the men's 81 kg weight category. After beating 2017 Pan American champion, Brazilian Eduardo Yudy Santos, in his first match, Muki lost to Austrian

Shamil Borchashvili Shamil Borchashvili (born 9 June 1995) is an Austrian judoka. He immigrated to Wels, Austria with his family from Chechnya, Russia when he was a child. Borchashvili won the silver medal at the 2021 Judo Grand Slam Tbilisi in the -81 kg class. ...

in the round of 16, ending his part of the individual contest.

Titles

Source:

References

External links

* * *
Sagi Muki
at the

European Judo Union The EJU consists of 51 national Judo federations/associations, and is itself recognised by the IJF as one of five continental unions. The organisation of the administration of Judo is based on a pyramid system of regulations, with the IJF the wo ...

"Inside Video: Sagi Muki"
(video), JudoInside, 4 January 2015
"Sagi Muki wins the Men's −73kg final , Judo , Baku 2015 European Games"
(video), Baku 2015 European Games, 26 June 2015 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muki, Sagi 1992 births Living people Israeli male judoka Jewish martial artists Sportspeople from Netanya European Games gold medalists for Israel European Games medalists in judo Judoka at the 2015 European Games Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka of Israel World judo champions Israeli people of Yemeni-Jewish descent Israeli Mizrahi Jews Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in judo Olympic bronze medalists for Israel