Toyokazu Nomura

Toyokazu Nomura ( Japanese 野村 豊 和 , Nomura Toyokazu ; born July 14, 1949 in Kōryō , Nara Prefecture ) is a former Japanese judoka . He won an Olympic gold medal and a world title.

Athletic career

The 1.63 m tall Toyokazu Nomura began his career in the lightweight, at that time the lightest weight class (up to 63 kilograms). At the 1969 World Championships in Mexico City , he defeated Sergei Suslin from the Soviet Union and the South Korean Kim Sang-chul on the way to the finals . In the final, he lost to his compatriot Yoshio Sonoda . Two years later at the 1971 World Championships in Ludwigshafen , he defeated Sergei Suslin and the South Korean Choi Jong-sam and reached the final, this time losing to his compatriot Takao Kawaguchi .

In 1972 Toyokazu Nomura switched to the light middleweight division, then the weight class up to 70 kilograms. In this weight class he won the Asian Championships in Kaohsiung , Kawaguchi won the lightweight. Both judokas were nominated for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich . After a bye in the first round, Nomura defeated Taiwanese Wang Jong-She in 57 seconds in the round of 16 . In the quarter-finals he needed 3:12 minutes against Antal Hetényi . The pool final against Antoni Zajkowski from Poland was decided after 3:40 minutes. Nomura's opponent in the semifinals was Anatoly Novikov from the Soviet Union, who was beaten after 3:39 minutes. In the second semi-final, Zajkowski defeated Dietmar Hötger from the GDR by a judge's decision (yusei-gachi). So Zajkowski and Nomura met a second time in the final, after 27 seconds Nomura ended the fight. Nomura had won all of his fights through Ippon and was an Olympic champion. A day later, Kawaguchi won the lightweight.

At the 1973 World Championships in Lausanne , Anatolij Nowikow won his pool final against Toyokazu Nomura, in the second pool final Nomura's compatriot Kazuo Yoshimura won against Dietmar Hötger. In the hope round, Nomura and Hötger also qualified for the semi-finals. In the semifinals Nomura defeated his compatriot, Hötger defeated Nowikow. Nomura won the final, Hötger received the silver medal.

Toyokazu Nomura's nephew Tadahiro Nomura was the first and until 2016 only judoka to win three Olympic gold medals.

Web links

• Toyokazu Nomura in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Tournament results at judoinside.com

Footnotes

1. ↑ Match balance at judoinside.com
2. ↑ Asia Championships 1972 at judoinside.com.
3. ↑ Volker Kluge : Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle III. Mexico City 1968 - Los Angeles 1984. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-328-00741-5 . P. 279f
4. ↑ Match balance sheet for Nomura and match balance sheet for Hötger at judoinside.com