Willem "Wim" Ruska (29 August 1940 – 14 February 2015) was a judoka from the

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. He is the first athlete to win two gold medals in Judo in one Olympics – in the heavyweight and absolute categories in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

Judo career

He started learning judo at the Dutch Navy, later traveling to Japan for further training. In the 1960s and 1970s, under the training of

Jon Bluming Johannes Cornelius Bluming (6 February 1933 – 17 December 2018) was a Dutch martial artist, instructor and actor. Known as a pioneer in variety of martial arts, Bluming held 9th dan in Judo, 10th dan in Karate and 10th dan in Hapkido. He was a ...

, he won seven European titles, five in the +93 kg category (1966–67, 1969, 1971–72) and two in the open category (1969 and 1972). He furthermore won two world titles (1967 and 1971) and two Olympic titles.Wim Ruska
sports-reference.com His success 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. ...

was overshadowed by the

Munich massacre The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September, who infiltrated the Olympic Village, killed two member ...

that took place days before. He retired after the 1972 Olympics and later took part in

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

Professional wrestling career

Ruska competed between 1976 and 1980 for the

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV ...

and

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

promotions. He had over 150 pro wrestling matches, in some of which he was the tag team partner of fellow judoka

Allen Coage Allen James Coage (October 22, 1943 – March 6, 2007) was an American judoka and professional wrestler. He won medals for the United States at several international judo competitions, including the heavyweight bronze medal at the 1976 S ...

Match with Ivan Gomes

In 1976, during a tour through Brazil, Ruska was slated to fight a special, high-level bout against Ivan Gomes, a famous vale tudo fighter and former NJPW wrestler himself, on August 7 at the Maracanã Stadium. Previous negotiations about the match's results and length were troublesome, and as a result, there was tension between the parts. During the bout, refereed by Mr. Takahashi, Gomes attacked Ruska with real strikes and illegal closed-fisted punches, which Ruska answered by landing a similar right punch, and the match became a

shoot In botany, a plant shoot consists of any plant stem together with its appendages, leaves and lateral buds, flowering stems, and flower buds. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop. In the sp ...

right after. The slightly heavier Brazilian dragged Ruska to the ground with a

guillotine choke The guillotine choke, also known as Mae Hadaka Jime (前裸絞, "front naked choke"; compare to a rear naked choke) in judo, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from in front of the opponent, often on the ground but can also be done while stan ...

, but Ruska escaped and

mounted Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, Co ...

him. After becoming entangled with the ring ropes, a bloody Gomes captured Ruska's back and tried a

rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keiko ...

, to which Ruska grabbed the ropes to break action as per the match's rules. However, the Brazilian refused to release Ruska, so the referee, upon observing most of Gomes' body was outside the ropes, called for countout on him in order to end the match at 9:03.Keisuke Shibusawa, ''Gracie Jiu Jitsu no Itsusashu'', 1995, Nihon Sports There was controversy about whether the choke and the rope escape were effective or not.Ken Yanagisawa, ''1976 Antonio Inoki'', 2007Ivan Gomes
BJJ Heroes The event's crowds believed Gomes had been wronged with the decision, and a riot almost broke out until NJPW president Antonio Inoki came out and calmed them down. Still, repercussion in Brazil was negative, with pundits arguing about who should be considered the victor, even although some acknowledged Gomes had started the affair with an illegal move. As a consequence, the Athletic Commission of Rio de Janeiro banned Takahashi and Ruska from all sport competitions.Shinji Ishii, ''Martial Arts Death Battle - The stormy story of the fools who wanted to be the strongest'', Takarajimasha, 1994 The Japanese considered Ruska the winner, as Gomes had to receive nine stitches around the right eye for damage suffered in the brawl, while Ruska was comparatively in much better condition. It was also reported Inoki secretly gifted Ruska a money bonus to compensate his ban from competing. A 90 seconds excerpt of the brawl was shown in 1995 in NJPW's TV show, World Pro Wrestling. During the show, Inoki compared the match to a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

fight from

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Late career

Ruska was a close friend to

sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , oly ...

world champion

Chris Dolman Christiaan "Chris" Dolman (born February 17, 1945) is a Dutch retired judoka, sambo player and wrestler. He won a silver medal at the European championship in judo and a gold at the world championship in sambo, counting as the first non-Russian ...

, also a Bluming understudy. They had a falling out after Dolman joined Akira Maeda's Fighting Network Rings while Ruska was part of Antonio Inoki's New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but they mended it in September 1997, when Inoki visited Holland along with Naoya Ogawa. They stayed in contact until Ruska's death in 2015.

Later life

In 2001 Ruska suffered a major stroke which left him physically disabled. In 2013 he was inducted in the Hall of Fame of the

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 ...

. Ruska was admitted to a nursing home in 2014. Ruska died on 14 February 2015 at the age of 74 and was survived by his wife, two children and five grandchildren.

Gallery

File:Wim Ruska 1968.jpg, Ruska in 1968 Wim Ruska with family 1972.jpg, Ruska with family in 1972

References

External links

* * *
Wim Ruska Dutch homepage

Videos of Wim Ruska
on Judovision {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruska, Wim 1940 births 2015 deaths Dutch male judoka Dutch male professional wrestlers Judoka at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic judoka of the Netherlands Olympic medalists in judo Sportspeople from Amsterdam World judo champions Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan