Dragomir Bečanović

Dragomir Bečanović ( Serbian - Cyrillic Драгомир Бечановић ; born February 10, 1965 in Nikšić , Yugoslavia ) is a former Yugoslav judoka who won the gold medal at the 1989 World Judo Championships in the half-light weight (up to 65 kg). He is the first and at the same time also the only judo world champion of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which existed from 1945 to 1992 .

Judo career

In 1987 Bečanović was able to record his first international success with a silver medal at the European Championships in Paris, in the final he was defeated by the 7 years older French Jean-Pierre Hansen . He was then voted Montenegro's Sportsman of the Year .

In 1988 he represented Yugoslavia at the Summer Olympics in Seoul . In the sixteenth finals he lost to the eventual Olympic champion Lee Kyung-keun and in the consolation round to the Argentine Claudio Yafuso .

In 1989 he knew how to use the advantage of the domestic backdrop in Belgrade to win the gold medal, in the final he defeated Udo Quellmalz, who was at the beginning of his international career . In the same year he was selected by the Belgrade daily Sport ( Serbian - Cyrillic Спорт , 1945-2016) as the best athlete in Montenegro and Yugoslavia.

Dragomir Bečanović ended his competitive career as a judoka in 1991.

Yugoslav championship title

• up to 65 kg: 1987, 1989, 1990 (half-light weight)

Web links

• Dragomir Becanovic at JudoInside.com