Johan Laats

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Johan Laats (born January 10, 1967 in Wilrijk , Antwerp ) is a former Belgian judoka . He was European champion in 1997 in the light middleweight division, the weight class up to 78 kilograms.

Athletic career

The 1.78 m tall Johan Laats comes from a judo-loving family; his brothers Lode, Stefaan and Philip were also judokas. Johan Laats was Junior World Champion in 1986. In 1986 and 1987 he won silver at the European Junior Championships. At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, he was eliminated in the first round after 3:09 minutes against South Korean Ahn Byeong-keun .

From 1989 to 1993 and again in 1995 Johan Laats was Belgian light middleweight champion. His international breakthrough came in 1991 at the European Championships in Prague, when he won the silver medal behind the Dutchman Anthonie Wurth . At the 1991 World Championships in Barcelona he won the semifinals against Wurth, in the final he was defeated by the German Daniel Lascău . The following year he finished seventh at the European Championships. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona he reached the semi-finals with a victory over the Frenchman Bertrand Damaisin . There he was defeated by the Japanese Hidehiko Yoshida and then he lost the fight for a bronze medal against the South Korean Kim Byung-joo .

At the European Championships in 1993 he was defeated by Georgian Soso Liparteliani in the round of 16 , and Johan Laats won a bronze medal with four wins in the hope round. Five months later at the World Championships in Hamilton he was defeated in the semi-finals Hidehiko Yoshida, the battle for bronze he lost to Jason Morris from the United States. In 1994 he won silver at the European Championships behind the Briton Ryan Birch , at the Goodwill Games in Saint Petersburg he took third place. At the European Championships in 1995 he was defeated in the quarterfinals against the French Djamel Bouras , with two wins in the round of hope he reached the battle for bronze, in which he won against Ryan Birch. In his third Olympic participation in Atlanta in 1996 , he finished tied for ninth place after one win and two losses. In 1997 the European Championships were held in Ostend. Laats defeated the Briton Graeme Randall in the round of 16 , the Finn Matti Lattu in the quarter-finals and the Estonian Aleksei Budõlin in the semifinals . In the final, he defeated the 1996 Olympic champion Djamel Bouras. Five months later Johan Laats retired from the World Championships in Paris in the first round against Graeme Randall.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Volker Kluge : Olympic Summer Games. Chronicle IV. Seoul 1988 - Atlanta 1996. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-328-00830-6 . P. 107
  2. ↑ Match balance at judoinside.com
  3. ↑ Match balance at judoinside.com
personal data
SURNAME Laats, Johan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian judoka
DATE OF BIRTH January 10, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Wilrijk , Antwerp