is a retired Japanese

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 ...

. He is the only judoka in the world who has won three individual Olympic gold medals in a row, all in the extra lightweight (60 kg) division.

Biography

Nomura was born into a family of judoka. His grandfather was a local judo instructor, and his father was the coach of Shinji Hosokawa, who won a gold medal at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. Nomura's uncle, Toyokazu Nomura, was also a gold medalist at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

in the (–70 kg) division. Nomura began learning judo at his grandfather's

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning, experiential learning, or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts. The term literally means "place of the Tao, Way" in Japanese language, Japanese. History The word ''d� ...

at age six. He was successful in several local and national level competitions during high school and junior-high school, and entered Tenri University in 1993. He won the All-Japan Selected judo championships for his weight class in April, 1996, to gain a spot on the Japanese olympic team for 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, ...

held in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Though relatively unknown at the world level at the time, he won his first olympic gold medal on July 26, 1996, defeating Girolamo Giovinazzo by seoi nage. Nomura swept the All-Japan Selected judo championships again in 1997, and won a gold medal at the 1997 World Judo Championships in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to reinforce his position as the premier competitor at his weight class. After winning the All-Japan Selected judo championships for the third consecutive year in 1998, he injured his left knee in the Jigoro Kano Cup semi-finals on January 9, 1999, and was forced to withdraw from the competition. He did not participate in competitions for the rest of the year to recover from this injury and to complete his degree in health education. Nomura made his return at the All-Japan Selected judo championships in 2000, winning the competition for the third time to gain a second trip to the olympics. He became the first -60 kg division competitor to win consecutive olympic gold medals on September 16, 2000, by defeating Jung Bu-Kyung of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

by sumi otoshi only 14 seconds into the match. Nomura married former model Yoko Sakai in May, 2001. During this time Nomura took time off from judo to study abroad in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. He won the All-Japan Selected judo championships for the first time in three years (fourth total win) in April, 2003 to advance to the 2003 World Judo Championships where he made a disappointing bronze medal finish. He won the Japanese nationals for the second consecutive year (fifth total win) in April, 2004, which enabled him to seek an unprecedented third consecutive olympic gold medal 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 ...

. On August 14, 2004, he achieved this feat with a win over Nestor Khergiani of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. This made Nomura the only olympic judo practitioner to have won three consecutive gold medals, and the first olympic competitor from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

to win three consecutive gold medals in any competition. This was also the 100th gold medal won by Japan in the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

. Nomura did not participate in judo competitions after the 2004 olympic final, but on January 10, 2006, he announced his intention to seek a fourth consecutive gold medal at 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 ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. He made his return with a win at an international tournament held in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, and won the All-Japan Selected judo championships for the sixth time in 2007. In 2008, however, Nomura failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games when, on April 5, he was defeated by Daisuke Asano in the semifinals of the -60 kg category at the National Weight Class Invitational Tournament, which represented the last opportunity to clinch the berth as the Japanese athlete in the -60 kg category. A day after his defeat, Nomura made it known, through a spokesperson, his intention to retire from competitive judo. On April 25, he underwent knee surgery, although it remains unknown whether this injury might have played any role in his unexpected elimination from the aforementioned Olympic-qualifying competition. He announced he would continue his career and intended to qualify for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Ultimately he did not do so, and announced his retirement from judo in August 2015, stating that his health no longer allowed him to compete.Tadahiro presented an honorary black belt to action star Keanu Reeves for his intense study and performance of judo in the movie franchise John Wickhttps://www.ijf.org/news/show/nomura-tadahiro-presents-honorary-black-belt-to-keanu-reeves

References

External links

* * * * *
Competition videos of Tadahiro Nomura at Judovision
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nomura, Tadahiro 1974 births Living people Japanese male judoka Olympic judoka for Japan Judoka at the 1996 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2000 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Japan Sportspeople from Nara Prefecture Olympic medalists in judo World judo champions Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon 20th-century Japanese sportsmen 21st-century Japanese sportsmen

Biography

See also

References

External links