Akapei Latu (born November 3, 1978) is a

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

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 ...

, who competed in the men's lightweight category. Latu qualified as a lone judoka for the Tongan squad in the men's lightweight class (73 kg) at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, by granting a tripartite invitation from the

International Judo Federation The International Judo Federation (IJF) is the international governing body for judo, founded in July 1951. Today the IJF has 200 National Federations on all continents. There are over 20 million people around the globe who practice judo, accordi ...

. He received a bye in the opening round, before losing out in his first match to Algeria's Noureddine Yagoubi, who pinned and subdued him on the

tatami are soft mats used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. They are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about , depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are used for training in a dojo and for competition. ...

with a

kuchiki taoshi is a single leg takedown in Judo adopted later by the Kodokan into their Shinmeisho No Waza (newly accepted techniques) list. It is categorized as a hand technique, Te-waza. The technique was popularized by Kyutaro Kanda in 1926. Yaichihyō ...

(single leg takedown) assault at three minutes and seven seconds.

References

External links

* 1978 births Living people Tongan male judoka Olympic judoka for Tonga Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Nukuʻalofa {{Tonga-judo-bio-stub