Antal Kovács

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Antal Kovács (born May 28, 1972 in Paks ) is a former Hungarian judoka . The two-meter man competed in the light heavyweight division and is still the only judo Olympic champion from Hungary to this day (as of 2018).

Athletic career

Kovács won the Hungarian Junior Championships in 1987, 1988 and 1990. At the Junior European Championships in 1991 he won the bronze medal. In 1992 he lost to the Italian Luigi Guido at the European Championships in the adult class , but then fought his way through to the bronze medal.

At the 1992 Olympic Games , he won the first round against Moises Torres from Angola. In the last sixteen he defeated Dmitri Sergejew from the United Team . After defeating the Brazilian Olympic champion in 1988 Aurélio Miguel in the quarter-finals and over the Dutch Theo Meijer in the semi-finals, he met the Briton Raymond Stevens in the final and won by a Yuko rating. The twenty-year-old Hungarian received the gold medal before Stevens, bronze went to Meijer and Sergejew.

Three months after his Olympic victory, Kovács won the silver medal at the Junior World Championships. In 1993 Kovács won the bronze medal at the European Championships, where he was only defeated by the Austrian Thomas Etlinger . At the Judo World Championships in 1993 in Hamilton, Canada, he defeated the German Marc Meiling in the semifinals , in the final he defeated Aurélio Miguel and won his second international title. In 1994 Kovács won the World Cup tournament in Budapest, in 1995 he finished second at the World Masters in Munich behind the German Axel Lobenstein . At the 1996 Olympic Games he was defeated in the first round against the eventual Olympic champion Paweł Nastula from Poland; Kovávs then fought his way through to the duel for bronze, which he lost to the French Stéphane Traineau .

In 1998 Kovács won the Student World Championships in Prague, and two years later he was able to defend the title in Málaga. In between was his second round defeat against the Israeli Ariel Zeevi at the Olympic Games in Sydney . Eight years after winning the world title in Hamilton, Kovács reached the final at the Judo World Championships in Munich in 2001 and received the silver medal after his defeat against the Japanese Kōsei Inoue . In 2002, Kovács won the bronze medal at the European Championships when he was only defeated by the Belgian Elco van der Geest . The following year, Kovács lost at the start of the European Championships against Ariel Zeevi, but then fought his way to the bronze medal. At the European Championships in 2004 he won on his way to the final against Paweł Nastula and Elco van der Geest, among others; in the final he lost to Ariel Zeevi. At the 2004 Olympic Games, Kovács was defeated in the opening fight against Kōsei Inoue. In 2005, Kovács won silver with the Hungarian team at the European team championships. At the 2007 World Cup in Budapest, he finished seventh again.

Kovács was Hungarian light heavyweight champion six times: 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2003. In 1993 the Hungarian sports press named him Sportsman of the Year in Hungary .

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personal data
SURNAME Kovács, Antal
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian judoka
DATE OF BIRTH May 28, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Paks