Rene Capo (May 9, 1961 – July 6, 2009) was a

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, 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 Encyc ...

from the United States who competed in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

and 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, ...

. Capo immigrated to the United States from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

as a young boy. Though he won several judo championships in high school, Capo took a four-year break from the sport to attend the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. After college, Capo went on to qualify for two United States Olympics teams, could not compete as an alternate in another due to a back injury, and narrowly missed making the 2008 team. In 2008, Capo was diagnosed with lung cancer, which caused his death the following year.

Early life

Capo immigrated to the United States from

Pinar del Río Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 191,081 (2022), it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños''. History Pinar del Río was ...

, Cuba in 1962, when he was still an infant, and grew up in

Hialeah, Florida Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Da ...

. He learned Judo as a member of Florida Judo Kai, under the tutelage of Cuban Champion Reinaldo Montpellier. After graduating from

Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School, locally referred to as HML'','' is a public high school operated by Miami-Dade County Public Schools, located at 7977 West 12th Avenue in Hialeah, Florida, United States, on the boundary with the city of M ...

He attended the

, where he played

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the Golden Gophers from 1979 to 1982, sharing a team record with four sacks.

Judo career

Amateur competition

At the age of six, Capo competed in his first

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, 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 Encyc ...

competition, and had won his first tournament by nine. By the time of his graduation, Capo had earned a national high school gold medal, and won the silver medal at the United States Senior Nationals.

Professional career

After a four-year break from Judo in which he focused on

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and college, Capo won a gold medal at the 1987 Pacific Rim Championships. A year later, he upset a number of highly ranked heavyweights at the US Judo Olympic Trials. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, Capo finished 19th. Capo qualified as the alternate for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, but was unable to compete due to severe neck injury. After having surgery on two vertebrae, he made it to the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he was eliminated the first day. From 2005 to 2007, Capo taught

at the

Jason Morris Jason Newth Morris (born February 3, 1967) is an American retired judoka. He was a four-time Olympian and 2008 Olympic Coach, best known for winning the silver medal in the 78 kg weight category in the 1992 Summer Olympics and a Bronze Meda ...

Judo Center in Glenville. He narrowly missed qualifying for the

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

, losing to his own student, Kyle Vashkulat. At the 2008 USA Judo Senior National Championships one month later, Capo placed fifth.

Cancer

In 2008, Capo, a non-smoker, was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

, from which he died on July 6, 2009, in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. At the time, he lived in

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago located west of the city on the DuPage River. As of the 2020 United State ...

, where he had moved to earn money selling magazine subscriptions to schools.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Capo, Rene 1961 births 2009 deaths American football defensive tackles American male judoka Cuban emigrants to the United States Deaths from lung cancer in Illinois Judoka at the 1988 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 1996 Summer Olympics Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Olympic judoka for the United States Sportspeople from Naperville, Illinois Martial artists from Pinar del Río 20th-century American sportsmen