Yasuhiro Yamashita

(Taken from Wikipedia)

Yasuhiro Yamashita, (born June 1, 1957 in Yamato, Kumamoto, Japan) is one of the most successful judo competitors of all time. He currently works as an instructor or advisor for numerous organizations, including Tōkai University, the International Judo Federation, and the All Japan Judo Federation. He retired from competitive judo on June 17, 1985 after a remarkable career where he won five gold medals in international competitions and marked 203 consecutive victories (with 7 draws in-between) up until his retirement. He received the Japanese National Prize of Honor on October 9, 1984

Yamashita began judo in primary school after being inspired by judo founder Jigoro Kano, and had already attained a black belt by the time he reached junior-high school. Yamashita continued judo under the guidance of 1964 Summer Olympics gold medalist Isao Inokuma and 1967 World Judo Championships gold medalist Nobuyuki Sato after graduating from Tokaidai Sagami High School. His streak of 203 victories began in October, 1977, in an exhibition match held in the Soviet Union, and ended with his final match in April, 1985, where he won the All-Japan judo championships for the 9th consecutive time.

Yamashita qualified for the Olympics for the first time in 1976 as a replacement during his freshman year at Tōkai University. At age 19, he became the youngest judoka in history to win the open category of the All-Japan Judo Championships in 1977. He continued his success by winning a gold medal at the 1979 World Judo Championships, and secured a spot on the Japanese Olympic team in a highly publicized draw against 1976 Summer Olympics bronze medalist Sumio Endo. Yamashita went into the final as the favorite, but Endo put Yamashita in a Kani Basami as he was taken down, breaking Yamashita's fibula. The match was declared a draw even though Yamashita was hurt and unable to continue. Kani Basami had been a legal move up until the match, but the seriousness of Yamashita's injury caused officials to prohibit its use in international competitions.

Japan boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in protest of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and Yamashita was forced to look on as a spectator while his rivals competed on the Olympic stage. Yamashita won three more gold medals at the World Championships before qualifying for the Olympics for the third time in 1984. He was the only Japanese judo competitor from the boycott who also qualified for the 1984 Summer Olympics.

In his first and only appearance at the Olympics, Yamashita tore a right calf muscle in the preliminary match against Arthur Schnabel. This put Yamashita at a huge disadvantage since he executed his throws by pivoting on his right leg. Though he managed to win the match with an Okuri-Eri-Jime, the injury caused him to visibly limp during the semi-final match against Laurent Del Colombo. Yamashita was thrown with an Osoto Gari only 30 seconds into the match, but managed to return an Osoto Gari and won the match with a Yoko-Shiho-Gatame (side four-quarter hold). Yamashita's limp persisted during the Olympic final against Mohamed Ali Rashwan, where Rashwan aggressively grappled with Yamashita from the very beginning of the match. Yamashita gained an opening as Rashwan lost his balance, and won with another Yoko-Shiho-Gatame to capture the gold medal. Rashwan was given an award from the International Fairplay Committee after explaining that he did not aim for Yamashita's right leg because he was conscious of Yamashita's injury.

Yamashita remained undefeated in both domestic and international competitions, though he drew several matches with two-time Olympic gold medalist Hitoshi Saito. Yamashita faced Saito in the final match of the All-Japan Judo Championships for 3 consecutive years from 1983-1985, and emerged victorious in every single one of those matches. After suffering from numerous injuries throughout his career, Yamashita decided to retire from competitive judo on June 17, 1985 at only 28 years of age.

Post Retirement

Yamashita served as an instructor for numerous organizations before becoming the International Judo Federation's Director of Education in September, 2003. His presence as the head coach of the Japanese judo team was felt when he strongly protested the controversial decision in a match between David Douillet and Shinichi Shinohara at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Yamashita has also compiled an instructional judo video with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also holds a black belt in judo. The two first met during Putin's visit to Tokyo in 2005, and Yamashita has traveled to St. Petersburg to visit the President's former judo school.