Takao Kawaguchi

Takao Kawaguchi (川口 孝夫, Kawaguchi Takao, born April 13, 1950 in Hiroshima, Japan) is a retired judoka who competed in the -63 kg division.

Biography

Kawaguchi began judo at age 5 under the instruction of his father, who was a local judo instructor.^[1] He won the inter-highschool judo tournament in his senior year in high school, and entered Meiji University in 1969.^[1] He defeated future Olympic gold medalist Toyokazu Nomura in the finals of the World Judo Championships in 1971 to become world champion for his weight class, and became the Japanese representative for the -63 kg division at the 1972 Summer Olympics.^[2] After two quick victories in the first and second rounds of the Olympic competition, Kawaguchi faced Mongolian judoka Bakaava Buidaa in the third round, and broke two of his own rib bones as he tried to escape from Buidaa's ground pin.^[2] Coach Akio Kaminaga suggested Kawaguchi withdraw to receive treatment, but Kawaguchi continued on for the rest of the match, and advanced to the semi-final with a close decision victory. Kawaguchi won the semi-final match against Kim Yong-Ik of North Korea with a Yoko-Shiho-Gatame, only to face Buidaa again in the Olympic final. However, unlike the previous match, Kawaguchi quickly put Buidaa on the mat with a Kouchi Gari, and won with a Kami-Shiho-Gatame only 39 seconds into the match to win the gold medal (Buidaa was later disqualified for failing a drug test). He succeeded his father as head instructor of the Kawaguchi dojo after retiring from competitive judo.^[1]

See also

• List of judoka
• List of Olympic medalists in judo

References

External links

• Official website