The 1984 Olympic judo competition saw Japan return to dominance after boycotting Moscow, while boycotts by Cuba and the Soviet Union shaped the medal outcomes.
Key Facts
- Weight classes contested
- 8 (seven weight classes plus open division)
- Venue
- California State University, Los Angeles
- First two-time Olympic judo gold
- Peter Seisenbacher and Hitoshi Saito (repeated in 1988)
- Open division champion
- Yasuhiro Yamashita (Japan), four-time world champion
- Fair play award recipient
- Mohamed Ali Rashwan, International Fairplay Committee
- Notable absentees
- Cuba and Soviet Union (Soviet-led boycott)
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, a response to the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games, kept several traditionally strong judo nations, including the Soviet Union and Cuba, from competing. Japan, which had boycotted Moscow, returned to competition.
Eight judo events were held at California State University, Los Angeles, continuing seven weight classes plus an open division. Japan reclaimed the top of the medal count. Austrian Peter Seisenbacher and Japan's Hitoshi Saito each won gold, and Yasuhiro Yamashita claimed the open division title despite a torn calf muscle, in a final marked by a noted fair play gesture from his Egyptian opponent.
Seisenbacher and Saito became the first judoka to win Olympic gold at two consecutive Games when they repeated their victories in 1988. Yamashita's opponent, Mohamed Ali Rashwan, received an award from the International Fairplay Committee for deliberately avoiding Yamashita's injured leg throughout the final.
Result
at California State University, Los Angeles