Nicholas Delpopolo (born February 8, 1989) is an American

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"). ...

. He competed in the men's 73 kg event at 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, th ...

; after defeating Cheung Chi Yip in the second round and

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 ...

in the third, he lost to Wang Ki-Chun in the fourth round and was eliminated by Nyam-Ochir Sainjargal in the repechages. On August 6, 2012, Delpopolo was expelled from the Olympics by the IOC after he tested positive for

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

. Upon exiting the games, Delpopolo stated the positive test result was caused by "inadvertent consumption of food that I did not realize had been

baked Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferre ...

with marijuana, before I left for the Olympic Games." On August 9, 2016, Delpopolo competed again at the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

in the men's 73 kg event, defeating Ahmed Goumar (Niger) in the first round, Odbayar Ganbaatar (Mongolia) in the second round, and ultimately losing to

Miklós Ungvári Miklós Ungvári (born 15 October 1980) is a Hungarian former half-lightweight judoka who held the European title in 2002, 2009 and 2011. He competed at the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics and won a silver medal in 2012, placing fifth in 20 ...

(Hungary) in the Quarter-finals by penalty points. Delpopolo ultimately finished 7th in his division.

Personal life

Delpopolo was born as Petar Perović ( Montenegrin/

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Петар Перовић) in

Nikšić Nikšić ( cnr, Никшић, italic=no, sr-cyrl, Никшић, italic=no; ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 56,970 located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot ...

SR Montenegro The Socialist Republic of Montenegro ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Crna Gora, Социјалистичка Република Црна Гора), commonly referred to as Socialist Montenegro or simply Montenegro, was ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. Of Montenegrin heritage,Zaccardi, Nick
"Delpopolo finishes 7th"
'' Times Union'', July 30, 2012. his biological parents left him as a toddler. After being orphaned for 21 months he was adopted as a 2-year-old by a

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

family. As his adoptive father Dominic's family was from

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

, they started adoption process there until eventually they were taken to an orphanage near Nikšić, Montenegro."About Nick Delpopolo"
''nickdelpopolo.com'' Several years later they adopted another child there, a daughter named Helen. Nick was raised by his adoptive parents in

Westfield, New Jersey Westfield is a Town (New Jersey), town in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316,Bergen Catholic High School Bergen Catholic High School is an all-male Roman Catholic high school in Oradell, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Coll ...

. In 2009, he went to

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

to see his biological father, but chose not to reveal himself because the man looked hostile. Nick also plans to find his biological mother who is in

.Snyder, Audrey
"Judoka Delpopolo faces biggest fight of his career"
''psu.edu'', July 31, 2012.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delpopolo, Nicholas 1989 births Living people American male judoka Bergen Catholic High School alumni Doping cases in judo Olympic judoka for the United States Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics American people of Montenegrin descent American people of Serbian descent Sportspeople from Westfield, New Jersey Judoka at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in judo Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games