Which athlete won the first Olympic gold medal in men's judo at Tokyo 1964?

Takehide Nakatani won the first Olympic gold medal in men’s judo at Tokyo 1964.

Nakatani won the lightweight division, which was one of only three judo weight classes contested when the sport made its Olympic debut. He represented Japan, the birthplace of judo, and defeated Canada’s Doug Rogers in the final.

Judo’s first Olympic program also included middleweight and heavyweight divisions, plus an open category. Japan won three of the four titles, while Dutch judoka Anton Geesink won the open category after defeating Japan’s Akio Kaminaga. That result was one of the major surprises of the Tokyo Games.

Judo was absent from the 1968 Olympics but returned permanently at Munich 1972. Women’s judo entered the Olympic program much later, as a demonstration sport in 1988 and a medal sport at Barcelona 1992.