is a Japanese retired Olympic champion

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 middleweight division (80 kg) at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

Biography

Sonoda was born in

Yanagawa Yanagawa may refer to: * Yanagawa, Fukuoka * Yanagawa, Fukushima * Yanagawa (surname) * Yanagawa (film) {{disambig ...

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He attended the

Fukuoka Institute of Technology is a private university in Higashi-ku of Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Se ...

, and won a gold medal at the 1969 World Judo Championships along with his older brother, Yoshio, who won the gold medal in the lightweight division (63 kg). After graduating, he began work at the Maruzen Oil Company (current

Cosmo Oil Company is a Japanese petrochemical company. It is Japan's third-biggest refiner by sales after Eneos and Idemitsu Kosan. History Cosmo in Japan traces its corporate roots to Maruzen Petroleum (丸善石油株式会社), a company established in 1931, ...

), where he continued to practice judo. He joined the Fukuoka prefectural police force in July 1972, at the invitation of the police force's judo instructor. Sonoda had competed in the

All-Japan Judo Championships is a judo tournament held every year in Japan. The men's tournament is held in Nippon Budokan on 29 April and the women's tournament (dubbed "Empress cup All-Japan women's Judo championships") is held in Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in April. Th ...

10 times from age 19, but Shozo Fujii had won the competition for three consecutive years prior to 1976, when the championship served as the qualifier for the

, and was seen as a lock for Japan's Olympic judo team. However, Sonoda defeated Fujii by a very close decision, gained his first appearance at the Olympics at age 29. He defeated

Valeriy Dvoinikov Valeriy Vasylovych Dvoynikov (, born 4 May 1950 in Ozersk) is a Ukrainian judoka who competed for the Soviet Union at the 1976 Summer Olympics, winning the silver medal in the middleweight division. Dvoynikov was also vice world champion in ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

by ''koka'' from an

Osoto Gari is one of the original 40 Throw (grappling), throws of Judo as developed by Jigoro Kano. It belongs to the first group, Judo Lists#Dai Ikkyo, Dai Ikkyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo (no waza), of Kodokan Judo. It is also included in t ...

in the finals to capture the gold medal. Sonoda retired after competing in the 1978

Jigoro Kano Cup The Grand Slam Tokyo (formerly ) is an international judo competition held as part of the International Judo Federation (IJF) World Tour Grand Slam series. The first Jigoro Kano Cup was held at the Nippon Budōkan from November 23 to 26, 1978 ...

along with

Kazuhiro Ninomiya is a retired judoka who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics. Biography After graduating from Tenri University, Ninomiya entered the Shoki Juku under the instruction of Isao Okano. He joined the Fukuoka Prefecture police force in April 1972, ...

. He and Ninomiya were rivals and friends for over 30 years, having been born on the same year, entered the same police force, competed in the same World Championships and Olympics, and having retired at the same time. He worked as a judo instructor for the Fukuoka prefectural police, and one of his pupils,

Kie Kusakabe is a Japanese judoka. She won a Judo at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 57 kg, 57 kg category bronze medal at the Judo at the 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney Olympics in 2000. Kusakabe is a graduate of Junshin Junior College. She was a ...

, appeared in the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

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 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonoda, Isamu 1946 births Living people Japanese male judoka Judoka at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka for Japan Olympic gold medalists for Japan People from Yanagawa, Fukuoka Martial artists from Fukuoka Prefecture Olympic medalists in judo Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Summer World University Games medalists in judo FISU World University Games gold medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade Fukuoka Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century Japanese sportsmen

Biography

See also

References

External links