Lightweight (≤71 kilograms), Men

Kenzo Nakamura was the youngest of three brothers competing for Japan in judo at the Atlanta Olympics. His oldest brother, Yoshio, was a former World Champion who placed =7th in the half-heavyweight class, while his other brother, Yukimasa, won a silver medal in the extra-lightweight class, and had been World Champion in 1993. Kenzo had not yet made the podium at a World Championships and only made the Japanese team by defeating the 1995 World Champion, Daisuke Hideshima, at the Japanese trials. But Kenzo made the final in Atlanta, facing Korea’s Gwak Dae-Seong, who had lost the World final in 1995 to Hideshima. The match was a dull one, with Gwak gaining a points lead after a warning was issued to Nakamura for passivity. But with only three seconds left, Gwak was penalized for an illegal move, tying the score. Kenzo Nakamura won the gold medal by yusei-gachi, via split decision. In 1997, Kenzo would equal his brothers’ accomplishments by winning a World Championship.