is one of the most famous

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, 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 Nipponi ...

competitors in Japan. He is the only

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"). ...

in the world who has won three individual Olympic gold medals in a row, all in the extra lightweight (-60 kg) division.

Biography

Nomura was born into a family of judoka. His grandfather was a local judo instructor, and his father was the coach of

Shinji Hosokawa is a retired Japanese judoka who won two Olympic medals during the 1980s. Biography Hosokawa began judo in junior-high school, and won the Japanese inter-high school judo competition in 1977. He entered Tenri University in 1978, and co ...

, who won a gold medal at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. Nomura's uncle,

Toyokazu Nomura is a retired judoka who competed in the half-middleweight (70 kg) division. Life and career Nomura was born into a family of judoka. His father was the founder of a local judo dojo, and his brother was also an instructor who taught Olym ...

, was also a gold medalist at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

in the (-70 kg) division. Nomura began learning judo at his grandfather's

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the ...

at age six. He was successful in several local and national level competitions during high school and junior-high school, and entered

Tenri University is a Japanese private university in Tenri, Nara Prefecture, an independent part of the secular mission of the new religious movement Tenrikyo. It was established in February 1925 as the coeducational , enrolling 104 students, and was reorganise ...

in 1993. He won the All-Japan Selected judo championships for his weight class in April, 1996, to gain a spot on the Japanese olympic team for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

held in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Though relatively unknown at the world level at the time, he won his first olympic gold medal on July 26, 1996, defeating

Girolamo Giovinazzo Girolamo Giovinazzo (born 10 September 1968 in Rome) is an Italian judoka who won two Olympic medals, in 1996 and 2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential ...

seoi nage is a shoulder throw, one of the traditional forty throws of Judo as developed by Jigoro Kano. It belongs to the first group, Dai Ikkyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo (no waza), of Kodokan Judo. It is also part of the current 67 Thro ...

. Nomura swept the All-Japan Selected judo championships again in 1997, and won a gold medal at the

1997 World Judo Championships The 1997 World Judo Championships were the 20th edition of the World Judo Championships, and were held in Paris, France in 1997. Medal overview Men Women Medal table Results overview Men 60 kg 65 kg 71 kg 78 kg 86 kg 95 kg ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to reinforce his position as the premier competitor at his weight class. After winning the All-Japan Selected judo championships for the third consecutive year in 1998, he injured his left knee in the Jigoro Kano Cup semi-finals on January 9, 1999, and was forced to withdraw from the competition. He did not participate in competitions for the rest of the year to recover from this injury and to complete his degree in health education. Nomura made his return at the All-Japan Selected judo championships in 2000, winning the competition for the third time to gain a second trip to the olympics. He became the first -60 kg division competitor to win consecutive olympic gold medals on September 16, 2000 by defeating Jung Bu-Kyung of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

by sumi otoshi only 14 seconds into the match. Nomura married former model Yoko Sakai in May, 2001. During this time Nomura took time off from judo to study abroad in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. He won the All-Japan Selected judo championships for the first time in three years (fourth total win) in April, 2003 to advance to the 2003 World Judo Championships where he made a disappointing bronze medal finish. He won the Japanese nationals for the second consecutive year (fifth total win) in April, 2004, which enabled him to seek an unprecedented third consecutive olympic gold medal at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. On August 14, 2004 he achieved this feat with a win over

Nestor Khergiani Nestor Khergiani ( ka, ნესტორ ხერგიანი, born July 20, 1975) is a Georgian judoka. He obtained silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the -60 kg event where he lost in the final to Tadahiro Nomura. Khergiani won s ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. This made Nomura the only olympic judo practitioner to have won three consecutive gold medals, and the first olympic competitor from

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

to win three consecutive gold medals in any competition. This was also the 100th gold medal won by Japan in the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. Nomura did not participate in judo competitions after the 2004 olympic final, but on January 10, 2006, he announced his intention to seek a fourth consecutive gold medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He made his return with a win at an international tournament held in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, and won the All-Japan Selected judo championships for the sixth time in 2007. In 2008, however, Nomura failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games when, on April 5, he was defeated by Daisuke Asano in the semifinals of the -60 kg category at the National Weight Class Invitational Tournament, which represented the last opportunity to clinch the berth as the Japanese athlete in the -60 kg category. A day after his defeat, Nomura made it known, through a spokesperson, his intention to retire from competitive judo. On April 25, he underwent knee surgery, although it remains unknown whether this injury might have played any role in his unexpected elimination from the aforementioned Olympic-qualifying competition. He announced he would continue his career and intended to qualify for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Ultimately he did not do so, and announced his retirement from judo in August 2015, stating that his health no longer allowed him to compete.Judo icon Nomura announces retirement
''The Japan Times'', 31 August 2015.

References

External links

*
Competition videos of Tadahiro Nomura at Judovision
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nomura, Tadahiro 1974 births Living people Japanese male judoka Olympic judoka of Japan Judoka at the 1996 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2000 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Japan Sportspeople from Nara Prefecture Olympic medalists in judo World judo champions Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon 20th-century Japanese people 21st-century Japanese people

Biography

See also

References

External links